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CHINESE EMPEROR. KING OF COREA. AND CHINESE OFFICIALS 



lC ---1™ -- OF... 



'B-jLIMPSES 



t ...THE0RIENT 



The Manners^ Customs^ Life and 
History of the People of 

China, Japan and Corea 

BY 

TRUMBULL WHITE 

Author of " The "World's Columbian Exposition," 
"War in the East," " Silver and Gold," etc. 

"With Illustrations by 

TEITOKU MORJMOTO, J. C FIREMAN 

and others 

P. W. ZIEGLER & CO. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA., ANP) CHICAGO, ILLS. 




^0 CaPltS DECEIVED 



Copyright 1897 
J, H. WILLARD 






PREFACE. 

One of the results of the recent contention between two of the 
oldest nations on the face of the earth, has been to arouse the 
liveliest curiosity concerning these strange realms and peoples. 

So far as the war itself is concerned, that has passed into 
history, but the general public has as yet very shadowy ideas of 
the " Flowery Kingdom " and the " Land of tlie Mikado ; " and 
scarcely any knowledge of the " Hermit Nation," beyond its 
name. 

The great political events of different countries, their customs, 
arts, sciences, literature, religion, and typography, have always 
had a special attraction for the well-constituted mind. An intel- 
ligent curiosity is often a rich endowment, and in no way can a 
laudable spirit of inquiry be so legitimately gratified, as by a study 
of the history of remote countries ; such as is presented in this 
work. 

Commerce and religion, alike, prompt us to regard all men as 
brethren. The whole world is becoming knit together into one 
great family. Electricity brings to us daily, and with the rapidity 
of thought ; — news from all lands. 

But these communications do not speak in the same way to all. 
To many, these communications are all but valueless, for notwitli- 
standing a genuine wish for extended knowledge, they know little 
or nothing of the countries of which they read, and as a conse- 
quence, news of them, or, from them, is neither intelligible nor 
interesting. It is imperfectly understood, and forgotten nearly 
as soon as read. 

On the other hand, to the man of culture, all is intelligible and 
clear, and the information acquired takes its place in his well- 
ordered mind, and is added to his store of knowledge. 

Especially in America, no one can afford to be ignorant of the 
history and conditions of other lands. The uninformed man can- 
not take a proper position in an intelligent community ; he feels 



VI PREFACE. 

afraid to express himself, and is humiliated and rendered unhappy 
by a sense of his inferiority. 

It is with the view of putting it in the power of every in- 
habitant of this country to enroll himself in the well informed 
class, that the following work has been complied. 

The intelligent reader will perceive that it is not a mere, bald 
record of dry details, but that, while no fact of importance has 
been oniitted, it seizes more particularly on such salient events as 
are typical of the periods and countries described, and by exhibit- 
ing these in fuller detail, gives the reader an insight into the lives 
of the people described, as well as showing the productions, in- 
dustries and resources of each land, with its modes of govern- 
ment and present political situation. 

China, the " Middle Kingdom," is a land of contradictions. 
Japan, the "Day's Beginning," has a history that is more like a 
romance than a series of facts. Corea, " The Land of Morning 
Calm," is quaint, picturesque and little known. The interest in 
these remote empires is absorbing ; fantastic peoples, gorgeous 
temples, streets ablaze with kaleidoscopic coloring, grotesque ob- 
jects, massive idols ; pass in glittering panoramic effect. 

Hong Kong, the "Red Harbor ; " Canton, with the " Temple of 
Five Hundred Gods ; " Pekin ; the Grand Canal ; the Great 
Wall; — are followed by Nagasaki, the beautiful; Yokohama, 
modern and commercial ; Tokio, with the imperial palace ; Fuji- 
Yama, the sacred mountain : the wonderful inland sea ; colossal 
Paik-tu, the "ever white" mountain; Ping- Yang, "Peaceful 
Quiet;" and other scenes and objects of surpassing beauty and 
grandeur, are portrayed in such vivid colors, and with such mar- 
velous fidelity to detail, that the reader must indeed be strong of 
will, who can lay aside this fascinating volume. 

The aim has been to overlook nothing that the reader will de- 
sire to learn concerning the countries treated, and to advance the 
great cause of popular education. To the young, the work will 
prove of inestimable value, since for them it must possess such in- 
terest as to lead them from the vicious literature of the day, and 
inculcate a desire for wholesome reading and an ambition to be 
well informed. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PART I. CHINA, THE CELESTIAL laNGDOM. 

CHAPTEE I.— History from the Earliest Times to First Contact 
■with European Civilization ..... 

CHAPTEE II.— History from First Contact with European Civ- 
ilization to the Outbreak of the War with Japan . 

CHAPTEE III.— The Chinese Empire, its Geography, Govern- 
ment, Climate, and Products ..... 

CHAPTEE IV.— The Chinese People, their Personal Character- 
istics, Manner of Life, Industries, Social Customs, Art, 
Science, Literature, and Eeligion .... 



PART n. JAPAN, THE ISLAND EMPIRE. 

CHAPTEE v.— History from the Earliest Times to First Contact 

with European Civilization ..... 187 

CHAPTEE VI.— History from First Contact with European Civ- 
ization to the Present Time — How the United States 
Opened Japan to the World ..... 223 

CHAPTEE VII.— The Japanese Empire, its Geography, Govern- 
ment, Climate, and Products ..... 265 

CHAPTEE VIII.— The Japanese People, their Personal Charac- 
teristics, Manner of Life, Industries, Social Customs, 
Art, Science, Literature, and Eeligion . . . 283 



PART m. COREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

CHAPTEE IX. — History from the Earliest Times to the 

Present ........ 317 

CHAPTEE X.— The Kingdom of Corea, its Geography, Govern- 
ment, Climate, and Products . * ... 858 



viu TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE XI.— The Coreans and how they Live, their Per- 
sonal Characteristics, Industries, Social CustOEQS, Art, 
Science, Literature, and Keligion . . . . 



PART IV. THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 

CHAPTEE XII.— Causes of the War, Condition of the Three 
Nations at the Outbrealf of Hostilities, and the Prepara- 
tions for the Impending Struggle The Result . . 3t 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Chinese Emperor, King of Corea and Chinese Officials, 

Chinese Musician, 

Chinese Idea of Creation, 

Emperor Shun Plowing, 

View from Summer Palace, Peking, 

Chinese Temple, 

Image of Confucius, . 

Manchoorian Ministers, 

Great Wall of China, 

Buddhist Priest, 

Chinese Archers, 

Cninese Writer, 

Chinese Cannoniers, . 

Ancient Chinese Arch, 

A Chinese Lodging House, . 

Chinese Priest, 

Man of Swatow, 

Chinese Paper-Making, 

Chinese Peasant, Peiho Distrirt, 

Battle of Crickets, 

Chinese Mandarin, 

Gate at Peking, 

Opium Smokers, 

Chinese Miners, 

Chinese Farm Scene, 

Chinese Tea Farm, 

Chinese Street Scene, 

Chinese Farmer, 

An Imperial Audience, 

Preparation of Vermicelli, , 

Chinese Ladies, 

Palanquin of a High Official, 

The Governor of a Province, 

Chinese Protected Cruiser Chih-Yuen, 

Punishment by the Cangue, 

Flogging a Culprit, . 

Port Arthur— Transports Entering the Inner Harbor, 

Port Arthur— Japanese Coolies Ke moving Chinese Dead, 

A Typhoon, 

Bandaging the Feet, . 

The Seat of the War, 

The Punishments of Hell, . 

Chinese Cart, . 

School Boy, 

Chinese School, 

Chang Yen Hoon, . , 



PAGE 

Frontispiece. 
32 
35 
36 
37 
42 
46 
47 
50 
52 
57 
59 
63 
65 
69 
75 
76 
79 



91 
101 
108 
109 
111 
113 
117 
119 
122 
125 
126 
127 
130 
131 
133 
143 
150 
151 
156 
158 
162 
1(;3 
164 
16i 



(ix) 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Chinese School Girl, . 

Chinese Artist, 

Chinese Barber, 

Porter's Chair, 

Female Types and Costumes, 

Buddhist Temple, 

Temple of Five Hundred Gods, at Canton 

Japanese Musician, . 

The Miliado and His Principal Officers 

Japanese God of Thunder, . 

Japanese God of Biding, 

Japanese Peasantry, . 

Japanese God of War, 

Tolcio Types and Costumes, 

Japanese Musician, . 

Japanese Silli Spinner, 

Colossal Japanese Image, . 

Japanese Female Types, 

Shinto Temple, 

Japanese God of Wind, 

Daimios of Japan, 

Sketch Showing Development of Japanese Army 

Buddhist Priest, 

Japanese Junk, 

Old Time Japanese Ferry, . 

Scenes of Industrial Life, 

Japanese Bell Towers, 

Image of Buddha, 

Japanese Samurai or Warrior of the Old Time 

Japanese General of the Old Time, 

Japanese Bridge, 

Baptism of Buddha, . 

Woman of Court of Kioto, . 

Chinese Coolie, 

Japanese Gymnasts — Kioto, 

Formosan Type, 

Entrance to Nagasaki Harbor, 

Fuji-yama, 

Japanese Idols, 

Japanese Jugglers, , 

Japanese Court Dress, Old Style, 

Dressing the Hair, 

Child Carrying Baby, 

Japanese Batli, 

Japanese Couch, 

Geisha Girls Playing Japanese Musical Instruments, 

Japanese Alphabet, New, 

Japanese Alphabet, Old, 

Shinto Priest, . 

Street Scenes, . 

Groop of Ainos, 

Eats as Rice Merchants, 

Corean Landscape, 

Pagoda at Seoul, 

Corean Soldiers, 

Old Man in Corea, 

Corean Mandarins, 

Colossal Corean Idol— Un-jin Miriok 

Map Showing Japan, Coreu and Part of China, 



171 
175 

178 
181 
184 
185 
189 
190 
191 
196 
197 



211 
212 
213 
215 
218 
219 
221 



234 
235 
239 
249 
254 
255 
258 



271 

277 
281 
285 
289 
292 
295 
301 
302 



311 
313 
316 



343 
353 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Coreaa Bull Harrowing, 










. 361 


Corean City Wall, 










. 362 


Gate of aeoul, . 










. 365 


Corean Magistrate and Servant, 










. 3C9 


Statesman on Monocycle, 










. 373 


Corean Brush Cutter, 










. 374 


Porters With Chair, . 










. 375 


Corean Boat, . 










. 381 


Corean Eggseller, 










. 383 


Corean Band of Musicians, . 










. 387 



INTRODUCTION. 



China, Japan and Corea are a strange trinity to most of us in 
the Western world. Separated from us by long distances and by 
immense differences in race, in language, in religion, and in cus- 
toms, they have been known here only through the writings of 
the comparatively few travelers who exchange visits. 

China, " The Flowery Kingdom," as it is called in the oldest 
classical writings, is as full of natural wonders, quaint peoples and 
temples as any of the more exploited picturesque regions of the 
world, and Chinese government is one of the great wonders of 
history. Quaint and curious Canton, with its streets a mass of 
indescribable color, is one of the most bewildering places in the 
world ; and there is no city in the kingdom without its startling 
revelations to the " outside barbarians." To the Chinese we owe 
the invention of the mariner's compass, (even if their north is our 
south on the instrument.) The stupendous barrier called the Great 
Wall of China, for fifteen hundred miles runs over mountains, 
crosses rivers, descends into valleys, traverses marshes upon piles. 
Its mass far exceeds that of the Pyramids, and the material in it 
would girdle the earth with a wall four feet thick and twelve feet 
high. Canals are plentiful, railroads few. Agriculture is an art 
— not a corner of waste gi'ound is to be seen, even the very rivers 
are cultivated, for in some places they are covered with floating 
gardens. Temples and priests are numberless, for China has a 
famous religious history. There is no state religion. Worship is 
a fashion. The patriarchal principle in government extends to 
the. family. The parent's will is supreme, the child's obedience 
complete. Punishment by fines and imprisonment are not com- 
mon. In capital cases, off goes a man's head : in lesser crimes 
to his back comes the lash or bamboo, or he is exposed in the 
stocks. 

Chinese manners and customs are mirth provoking. Not only 
2 (25) 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

is the compass reversed, but when a Chinaman bows, he puts his 
hat on ; when he mourns, he wears white ; for blacking his shoes, 
he uses chalk; mounts his horse on the off side; the men are 
dressmakers and milliners and carry fans ; the women smoke ; the 
old men fly kites and the boys look on. The men wear their hair 
as long as possible and in cues ; the women tuck theirs up. The 
post of honor in China is on the left. We do not like Chinese 
music, nor they ours. Yet they play on over fifty different kinds 
of wind and stringed instruments, and play a great deal. Their 
costumes are the same as they were a thousand years ago. Edu- 
cation is highly esteemed and widely diffused. Tlieir language 
has no alphabet. 

The strange people in this strange land are full of contradic- 
tions, yet they are an example to every nation in industry, pa- 
tience, economy and peace. 

Civilization owes too much to the Chinese, to decry them. Thej^ 
have taught us arts which are invaluable. We copy their ce- 
ramics and use their silks and toys. Boast as we will of the discov- 
ery of the compass, printing and gunpowder, they used all in 
advance of us. 

But they do not take to strange notions till they have made them 
part of themselves. Railroads, telegraphs, improved machinery, 
are abominations, yet their highest officials are studying these 
things, and making efforts to educate a sufficient number of their 
people to introduce them, so as not to do violence to the estab- 
lished thoughts and customs of the people. The recent triumphs 
of Japan have disturbed the serenity of Chinese self-complacency, 
and tlie possibility of improvement glimmers vaguely in the minds 
of Mandarin and Emperor. 

Japan, up to a very short time ago, through the pen and tongue 
of poets and artists who have visited this land, has been thought 
to be merely a country of beautiful flowers, charming ladies, fan- 
tastic parasols, fans and screens. Such misrepresentation has 
long impressed the western mind, and the people hardly imagined 
Japan as a political power, enlightened by a perfect educational 
system and developed to a high pitch of excellency in naval and 
military arts. 

Viewing it from the humane standpoint, Japan is, indeed, the 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

true standard-bearer of civilization and progress in the far east. 
Politically, she, with her enterprising genius, youthful courage 
and alert brain, has lifted herself into the ranks of the most 
powerful nations of the earth, and compelled the whole of the 
western powers to reckon her as a "living force," as she has 
proved her right to a proud place among the chief powers of the 
world. Commercially, she has demonstrated herself the mistress 
of the Pacific and Asiatic seas. 

The unbroken series of victories over China, in the recent war, 
was viewed with amazement by the eyes of the world, and the 
world wondered how one of the most artistic people in the world 
could fight against sober, calm Chinamen. 

But more than once the world has seen that an artistic nation 
could fight. The Greeks demonstrated this long ago, and 
the French in latter times have given a shining example. The 
history of Japan reveals the true color of the Japanese as a war- 
like nation and brilliant fighters. Far back in the past, beyond 
that shadowy line where legend and history blend, their story has 
been one of almost continual war, and the straightest path to dis- 
tinction and honor has, from the earliest times, led across the 
battlefield. 

The ancestor of the Japanese peop)le, who claim to have de- 
scended from high heaven, seems to have been the descendants of 
the ancient Hittites, the warlike and conquering tribe once settled 
in the plain of Mesopotamia. The first Mikado was Jimmu, 
whose coronation took place two thousand five hundred and fifty- 
four years ago, long before Alexander the Great thought he had 
conquered the world, or Julius Csesar had entered Gaul. The 
present Mikado is the one hundred and twenty-second lineal de- 
scendant of Jimmu, and the unbroken dynasty has continued for 
twenty-five centuries. 

A policy that was adopted by the Japanese government in the 
seventeenth century, was an injurious one for its national devel- 
opment. Up to this time, foreign intercourse was free, and com- 
merce flourished. But now the Japanese resolved to expel all 
foreigners, and Tokugawa, the founder of the Tai-Kun shogunate, 
vigorously enforced this measure and carried it so far that all 
foreign merchants except a few Dutch were expelled from the 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

country. No foreigners (except the Dutch) were allowed in this 
forbidden land, and no native was permitted to leave his own 
country. Thus Japan was cut off from the rest of the world 
and as the Empire furnished different varieties of production 
which amply supplied the needs of the nation without any 
inconvenience, commerical intercourse with foreign lands was 
not absolutely necessary. In the course of time Japan had for- 
gotten all about the outside world, and so, the world neglected 
her. 

The people, however, enjoyed a profound peace by this policy. 
Ignoring the rise and fall of other nations, the dwellers in this 
ocean-guarded paradise, cultivated arts and learning and devel- 
oped their own civilization, which is quite different from what 
we now call the civilization of the nineteenth century. Suddenly 
this tranquillity that had continued for two hundred and fifty years, 
was broken, when in 1853 the warships of Commodore Perry ap- 
peared in the Bay of Yeddo with letters from the President of the 
United States requesting open ports for American commerce. The 
Japanese were dumbfounded, having never seen steamships until 
then. By 1860, the relations sought were granted, and a Japanese 
Embassy arrived in the United States. This was the real begin- 
ning of Japanese intercourse with other nations. Japan saw at 
once that the western nations were far in advance of her in the 
arts of war and diplomacy, and that to exist in the field of struggle 
for existence, she must adopt the same means by which European 
nations stand. Hence the whole nation of Japan, since the inter- 
course with the western people, has struggled with the utmost 
energy, to adopt what is called the nineteenth century civiliza- 
tion. 

In 1868, a revolution took place, from which the New Japan 
suddenly emanated. The old feudal regime was cast away. The 
social system was completely reorganized. New and enlightened 
criminal and civil codes were enacted ; the modes of judicial pro- 
cedure were utterly revolutionized ; the jail system radically im- 
proved ; the most effective organization of police, of posts, of rail- 
ways, of telegraphs, telephones and all means of communication 
were adopted ; enlightened methods of national education were 
employed; and the Christian religion was welcomed for the sake of 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

innovation. The Imperial Constitution was promulgated and the 
Imperial Diet, consisting of two houses — the House of Lords and 
House of Commons — elected by popular vote, was founded. 
Freedom of thought, speech and faith was established ; the system 
of an influential press and party rapidly grew up. 

Such is the progress which Japan has achieved in the past 
twenty-five years. It is a mistake to say that the Japanese are 
merely imitating western civilization. The Japanese mind was 
fully developed and enlightened, when the time came to grasp 
western civilization, and mentally were so enlightened as to be 
able to digest European science and art at a glance. What it has 
taken the most enlightened of modern nations centuries to accom- 
plish, Japan has done in a single generation. 

The Japanese people are moral, temperate, industrious, polite, 
ingenious and tasteful, and few countries are so beautified by 
nature and art. Every where are evidences of industry and taste, 
and scarcely an inch of ground is wasted. Fields of grain and 
fruit and vegetables are on every side, concealing the slight bam- 
boo fences which divide them, and giving the appearance of an 
undulating sea of verdure. Nagasaki, with one of the most beauti- 
ful harbors in the world, comparatively modern Yokohama the 
chief port of the Empire, and Tokio, the capital, are the principal 
cities, and especially in the latter are the Japanese characteristics 
displayed. It is a country of crookedness, until the mind is used 
to it. Horses are stalled with their heels to the feeding trough ; 
carpenters pull their planes toward them, and saw in the same 
way ; painters paint their pictures upside down. Our calendar 
and a gold and silver currency are in use, but the dollar is sub- 
divided into fractions not larger than a quarter of a cent. A 
handful of these coins will hardly pay for a meal. 

The Japanese are fertile in amusements and can get more amuse- 
ment out of nothing than any people except the Chinese. Their 
street bands are continually on the go; troupes of jugglers move 
about for the amusement of the children, and kite-makers and 
kiteflyers stream in gangs to the suburbs. A Jap can beat a 
Chinaman every day in ingenious devices for kites, as well as for 
fans. 

The fan is as much a part of Japanese dress as the hat or coat, 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

and its management is a great point in etiquette. Japanese dress 
is somewhat like the Chinese, but is more artistic. The robes of 
the higher classes are very costly and the court dresses are almost 
fantastic, and so elaborate as to be really clumsy. 

There is coziness, cleanliness and completeness about Japanese 
domestic life. You put off your sandals before entering a house, 
lest you dirty the matting. Walls are always decorated with 
paper designs, which are frequently changed. In winter, a bowl 
sunk in the floor, filled with live coals and covered with matting, 
will impart a pleasant warmth. 

The language is not unlike the Chinese, and their literature is 
very fruitful. Besides the sacred books and histories, are many 
youthful story books designed to teach courage and self-devotion. 

Though not an emotional people, the Japanese delight in street 
pageantry, and a procession on a festal day is a curiosity. Every 
participant is hilarious, and there is much beating of drums, blow- 
ing of horns and show of fantastic designs. 

Girls marry young — from sixteen to twenty. They are given 
in marriage by their parents, with gifts toward housekeeping. 
Priests marry the wealthy, but the middle classes marry by a sort 
of Quaker ceremony, in the presence of witnesses. 
- All Japanese parents, even the poorest, teach their children 
with great care and gentleness. Indeed the fathers and mothers 
seem to be but overgrown children, and as fond of pastime as if 
young. Schools are numerous, and education compulsory. An 
illiterate Japanese is an exceptional sight. 

Japan is a hopeful country, and is rushing along on the heels of 
progress with a rapidity that springs from full population, high 
education and acquired wealth. 

Of Corea the general public knows little more than its name. 
For several thousands of years it has been the battleground of its 
rapacious neighbors, suffering territorial loss in consequence ; and 
the inhabitants for the most part, claim to be in utter ignorance 
,of their origin. 



China 




CHINESE MUSICIAN. 



HISTORICAI. SKETCH OF CHINA FROM THE EARIJ- 

EST TIMES TO FIRST CONTACT WITH 

EUROPEAN CIVIIvIZATION. 



Origin of Cliinese People— Legends— Golden Age of China— Beginnings of Autlientic 
History— Dynasty of Cliow— Cultivation of Literature and Progress— Music, Slavery, House- 
hold Habits Tliree Tliousand Years Ago— Confucius and his Worli— First Emperor of 
Cliina— Burning of BooliS— Han Dynasty— Famous Men of the Period— Paper Money and 
Printing— Invasions of Tartars and Mongols— Sung Dynasty— Literary Worlds- Famous 
Cliinese Poet— Literature, Law and Medicine— Kublal Klian— Ming Dynasty— Private 
Library of a Cliinese Emperor— Founding of the Present Dynastj'— Connection Between 
Chinese History and tlie Kest of the World. 

Obscurity shrouds the origin of the Chinese race. The 
Chinese people cannot be proved to have originally come from 
anywhere beyond the limits of the Chinese empire. At the 
remotest period to which investigations can satisfactorily go back, 
without quitting the domain of history for that of legend, we 
find them already in existence as an organized, and as a more or 
less civilized nation. Previous to that time, their condition had 
doubtless been that of nomadic tribes, but whether as immigrants 
or as true sons of the soil there is scarcely sufficient evidence to 
show. Conjecture, however, based for the most part upon 
coincidences of speech, writing or manners and customs, has 
been busy with their ultimate origin ; and they have been vari- 
ously identified with the Turks, with the Chaldees, with the 
earliest inhabitants of Ireland, and with the lost tribes of Israel. 

The most satisfactory, however, of recent conclusions, based 
on most careful investigations are as follows : The first records 
we have of them represent the Chinese as a band of immigrants 
settling in the north-eastern provinces of the modern empire of 
China and fighting their way amongst the aborigines much as the 
Jews of old forced their way into Canaan against the various 
tribes which they found in possession of the land. It is probable 
that though they all entered China by the same route they 
separated into bands almost on the threshold of the empire, one 

(33) 



34 WHENCE CAME THE PEOPLE OF CHINA? 

body, those who have left us the records of their history in the 
ancient Chinese books, apparently following the course of the 
Yellow river, and turning southward with it from its northern- 
most bend, settling themselves in the fertile districts of the 
modern provinces of Shan-hsi and Honan. But as it is believed 
also that at about the same period a large settlement was made 
as far south as An am of which there is no mention in the books 
of the northern Chinese, we must assume that another body 
struck directly southward through the southern provinces of 
China to that country. 

Many writers answer tlie question that arises as to whence 
these people came, by declaring that research directly points to 
the land south of the Caspian sea. They find many reasons in 
the study of languages which furnish philological proof of this 
assertion. And they affirm that in all probability the outbreak 
in Susiana of possibly some political disturbance in about the 
24th or 23rd century B. C, drove the Chinese from the land of 
their adoption and that they wandered eastward until they 
finally settled in China and the country south of it. Such an 
emigration is by no means unusual in Asia. We know that the 
Ottoman Turks originally had their home in northern Mongolia, 
and we have a record of the movement at the end of last century 
of a body of six hundred thousand Kalmucks from Russia to the 
confines of China. It would appear also that the Chinese came 
into China possessed of the resources of western Asian culture. 
They brought with them a knowledge of writing and astronomy 
as well as of the arts which primarily minister to the wants and 
comforts of mankind. 

According to one native authority, China, that is, the world 
was evolved out of chaos exactly 3,276,494 years ago. This 
evolution was brought about by the action of a First Cause or 
Force which separated into two principles, active and passive, 
male and female. Or as some native writers explain it, out of a 
great egg came a man. Out of the upper half of the egg he 
created the heavens and out of the lower half he created tlie 
earth. He created five elements, earth, water, fire, metal and 
wood. Out of the vapor from gold he created man and out of 
vapor from wood he created woman. Traditional pictures of 



CHINESE LEGENDS OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 35 



this first man and first woman represent them wearing for dress, 
girdles of fig leaves. He created the sun to rule the day, the 
moon to rule the night, and the stars. Those who care to go 
deeper into these traditions than the limits of this work permit 
will find ample material for interesting research in the analogies 
to Christian history. 

These principles, male 
and female, found their 
material embodiment in 
heaven and earth and 
became the father and 
mother of all things, be- 
ginning with man, who 
was immediately asso- 
ciated with them in a 
triumvirate of creative 
powers. Then ensued 
ten immense periods, 
the last of which has 
been made by some 
Chinese writers on 
chronology to end 
where every sober his- 
tory of China should 
begin, namely, with the 
establishment of the 
Chow dynasty eleven 
hundred years before 
the birth of Christ. 
During this almost im- 
measurable lapse of 
time, the process of 

development was going on, involving such discoveries as the pro- 
duction of fire, the construction of houses, boats and wheeled ve- 
hicles, the cultivation of grain, and mutual communication by 
means of writing. 

The father of Chinese history chose indeed to carry us back to 
the court of the Yellow Emperor, B. C. 2697, and to introduce 




CHINESK IDEA OF CREATION. 



86 THE GOLDEN AGE OF CHINA, LONG AGO. 

us to his successors Yao and Shun and to the great Yu, who by 
his engineering skill had drained away a terrible inundation 
which some have sought to identify with Noah's flood. 

This flood was in Shun's reign. The waters we are told rose to 
so great a height that the people had to betake themselves to the 
mountains to escape death. Most of the provinces of the existing 
empire were inundated. The disaster arose, as many similar dis- 
asters, though of less magnitude, have since arisen, in consequence 
of the Yellow river bursting its bounds, and the great Yu was 
appointed to lead the waters back to their channel. With unre- 
mitting energy he set about his task, and in nine years succeeded 
in bringing the river under his control. During this period so 
absorbed was lie in his work, that we are told he took heed neither 




EMPEROE SHUN I'LOWING. 



of food nor clothing, and that thrice he passed the door of his 
house without once stopping to enter. At the completion of his 
labors he divided the empire into nine instead of twelve provinces, 
and tradition represents him as having engraved a record of his 
toils on a stone tablet on Mount Heng in the province of Hoopih. 
As a reward for the services he had rendered for the empire, he 
was invested with the principality of Hea, and after having 
occupied the throne conjointly with Shun for some years he suc- 
ceeded that sovereign on his death in 2308 B. C. 

But all these things were in China's "golden age," the true 
record of which is shrouded for us in the obscurity of centuries. 




VIEW FROM SUMMER PALACE, PEKING. 



BEGINNINGS OF AUTHENTIC CHINESE HISTORY. 39 

There were a few laws, bat never any occasion to exact the 
penalties attached to misconduct. It was considered superfluous 
to close the house door at night, and no one would even pick up 
any lost property that lay in the high road. All was virtue, 
happiness and prosperity, the like of which has not since been 
known. The Emperor Shun was raised from the plow handle to 
the throne simply because of his filial piety, in recognition of 
which wild beasts used to come and voluntarily drag his plow for 
him through the furrowed fields, while birds of the air would 
hover round and guard his sprouting grain from the depredations 
of insects. 

This of course is not history ; and but little more can be said for 
the accounts given of the two dynasties which ruled China be- 
tween the "golden age " and the opening reigns of the House of 
Chow. The historian in question had not many sources of 
information at command. Beside tradition, of which he largely 
availed himself, the chief of these was the hundred chapters that 
had been edited by Confucius from the historical remains of those 
times, now known as the " Book of History." This contains an 
unquestionable foundation of facts, pointing to a comparatively 
advanced state of civilization, even so far back as two thousand 
years before our era ; but the picture is dimly seen and many of 
its details are of little practical value. This calculation declares 
that with Yu began the dynasty of Hea which gave place in 1766 
B. C. to the Shang dynasty. The last sovereign of the Hea line, 
Kieh Kwei, is said to have been a monster of iniquity and to have 
suffered the just punishment for his crimes at the hands of T'ang, 
the prince of the state of Shang, who took his throne from him. 
In like manner, six hundred and forty years later, Woo Wang, 
the prince of Chow, overthrew Chow Sin, the last of the Shang 
dynasty, and established himself as the chief of the sovereign 
state of the empire. 

It is only with the dynasty of the Chows that we begin to feel 
ourselves on safe ground, though long before that date the Chinese 
were undoubtedly enjoying a far higher civilization than fell to 
the share of most western nations until many centuries later. 
The art of writing had been already fully developed, having 
passed, if we are to believe native researches from an original sys- 



40 RISE OF THE DYNASTY OF CHOW. 

tem of knotted cords, through successive stages of notches on 
wood and rude outlines of natural objects down to the phonetic 
stage in which it exists at the present day. Astronomical obser- 
vations of a simple kind had been made and recorded and the 
year divided into months. The rite of marriage had been sub- 
stituted for capture ; and although cowries were still employed and 
remained in use until a much later date, metallic coins of various 
shapes and sizes began to be recognized as a more practicable 
medium of exchange. Music, both vocal and instrumental, was 
widely cultivated : and a kind of solemn posturing filled the place 
that has been occupied by dancing among nations farther to the 
west. Painting, charioteering and archery were reckoned among 
the fine arts; the crossbow especially being a favorite weapon 
either on the battle field or on the chase. The people seem to 
have lived upon rice and cabbage, pork and fish, much as they do 
now ; they also drank the ardent spirit distilled from rice vulgarly 
known as " Sainshoo " and clad themselves in silk, or their own 
coarse home stuffs according to the means of each. All this is 
previous to the dynasty of Chow with which it is now proposed to 
begin. 

The Chows rose to power over the vices of preceding rulers, 
aided by the genius of a certain duke or chieftain of the Chow 
state, though he personally never reached the imperial throne. 
It was his more famous son who in B. C. 1122 routed the forces 
of the last tyrant of the semi-legendary period and made himself 
master of China. The China of those days consisted of a number 
of petty principalities clustering round one central state and thus 
constituting a federation. The central state managed the common 
affairs, while each one had its own local laws and administration. 
It was in some senses a feudal age, somewhat similar to that 
which prevailed in Europe for many centuries. The various 
dukes were regarded as vassals owing allegiance to the sovereign 
at the head of the imperial state, and bound to assist him with 
money and men in case of need. And in order to keep together 
this mass, constantly in danger of disintegration from strifes 
within, the sovereigns of the House of Chow were forever 
summoning these vassal dukes to the capital and making them 
renew, with ceremonies of sacrifice and potations of blood, their 



FORMATION OF THE EMPIRE. 41 

VOWS of loyalty and treaties of alliance. At a great feast held by 
Yu after his accession, there were, it is said, ten thousand princes 
present with their symbols of rank. But the feudal states were 
constantly being absorbed by one another. On the rise of the 
Shang dynasty there were only somewhat over three thousand, 
which had decreased to thirteen hundred when the sovereignty of 
the Chows was established. 

The senior duke always occupied a position somewhat closer 
to the sovereign than the others. It was his special business to 
protect the imperial territory from invasion by any malcontent 
vassal; and he was often deputed to punish acts of insubordina- 
tion and contumacy, relying for help on the sworn faith of all the 
states as a body against any individual recalcitrant. Such was 
the political condition of things through a long series of reigns 
for nearly nine centuries, the later history of this long and 
famous dynasty being simply the record of a struggle against the 
increasing power and ambitious designs of the vassal state of 
Ching, until at length the power of the latter not only outgrew 
that of the sovereign state, but successfully defied the united 
efforts of all the others combined together in a league. In 403 
B. C. the number of states had been reduced to seven great ones, 
all sooner or later claiming to be "the kingdom," and contending 
for the supremacy until Ching put down all the others and in 221 
B. C. its king assumed the title of Hwang Ti or emperor and 
determined that there should be no more feudal principalities, 
and that as there is but one sun in the sky there should be but 
one ruler in the nation. 

It is interesting to glance backward over these nine hundred 
years and gather some facts as to the China of those days. The 
religion of the Chinese was a modification of the older and sim- 
pler forms of nature worship practised by their ruder forefathers. 
The principal objects of veneration were still heaven and earth 
and the more prominent among the destructive and beneficient 
powers of nature. But a tide of personification and deification 
had begun to set in and to the spirits of natural objects and in- 
fluences now rapidly assuming material shape had been added the 
spirits of departed heroes whose protection was invoked after 
death by those to whom it had been afforded during life. 



42 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHOW DYNASTY. 



The sovereign of the Chow dynasty worshipped in a building 
which they called "the hall of light," which also served the pur- 
pose of an audience and council chamber. It was 112 feet square 
and surmounted by a dome; typical of heaven above and earth 
beneath. China has always been remarkably backward in 
architectural development, never having got beyond the familiar 
roof with its turned up corners, in which antiquaries trace a 




CHINESE TEMPLE. 



likeness to the tent of their nomad days. Hence it is that the 
"hall of light" of the Chows is considered by the Chinese to 
have been a very wonderful structure. 

Some have said that the Pentateuch was carried to China in 
the sixth century B. C, but no definite traces of Judaism are 
discoverable until several centuries later. 

The Chow period was pre-eminently one of ceremonial observ- 



CULTIVATION OF LITERATURE AND PROGRESS. 43 

ances pushed to an extreme limit. Even Confucius was unable 
to rise above the dead level of an ultra formal etiquette, which 
occupies in his teachings a place altogether out of proportion to 
any advantages likely to accrue from the most scrupulous com- 
pliance with its rules. During the early centuries of this period 
laws were excessively severe and punishments correspondingly 
barbarous ; mutilation and death by burning or dissection being 
among the enumerated penalties. From all accounts there 
speedily occurred a marked degeneracy in the characters of the 
Chow kings. Among the most conspicuous of the early kings 
was Muh, who rendered himself notorious for having promulga- 
ted a penal code under which the redemption of punishments was 
made permissible by the payment of fines. 

Notwithstanding the spirit of lawlessness that spread far and 
wide among the princes and nobles, creating misery and unrest 
throughout the country, that literary instinct which has been a 
marked characteristic of the Chinese throughout their long his- 
tory continued as active as ever. At stated intervals officials, we 
are told, were sent in light carriages into all parts of the empire 
to collect words from the changing dialects of each district ; and 
at the time of the royal progresses the official music masters and 
historiographers of each principality presented to the officials 
appointed for the purpose, collections of the odes and songs of 
each locality, in order, we are told, that the character of the rule 
exercised by their princes should be judged by the tone of the 
poetical and musical productions of their subjects. The odes and 
songs as found and thus collected were carefully preserved in 
royal archives, and it was from these materials, as is commonly 
believed, that Confucius compiled the celebrated " She King " or 
" Book of Odes." 

One hundred years before the close of the Chow dynasty, a 
great statesman named Wei Yang appeared in the rising state of 
Cli'in and brought about many valuable reformations. Among 
other things he introduced a system of tithings, which has en- 
dured to the present day. The unit of Chinese social life has 
always been the family and not the individual ; and this states- 
man caused the family to be divided into groups of ten families 
to each, upon a basis of mutual protection and responsibility. 



44 THE CHINESE THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO. 

The soil of China has always been guarded as the inalienable 
property of her imperial ruler for the time being, held in trust by 
him on behalf of a higher and greater power whose vice-regent 
he is. In the age of the Chows, land appears to have been culti- 
vated upon a system of communal tenure, one-ninth of the total 
produce being devoted in all cases to the expenses of government 
and the maintenance of the ruling family in each state. Copper 
coins of a uniform shape and portable size were first cast, accord- 
ing to Chinese writers, about half way through the sixth century 
B. C. An irregular form of money, however, had been in circu- 
lation long before, one of the early vassal dukes having been 
advised, in order to replenish his treasury, to " break up the hills 
and make money out of the metal therein ; to evaporate sea 
water and make salt. This," added his advising minister, " will 
benefit the realm and with the profits you may buy up all kinds 
of goods cheap and store them until the market has risen ; estab- 
lish also three hundred depots of courtesans for the traders, who 
will thereby be induced to bring all kinds of merchandise to your 
country. This merchandise you will tax and thus have a suffici- 
ency of funds to meet the expenses of your army." Such were 
some of the principles of finance and political economy among 
the Chows, customs duties being apparently even at that early 
date a recognized part of the revenue. 

The art of healing was practised among the Chinese in their 
prehistoric times, but the first quasi-scientific efforts of which we 
have any record belong to the period with which we are now 
dealing. The physicians of the Chow dynasty classify diseases 
under the four seasons of the year— headaches and neuralgic 
affections under spring, skin diseases of all kinds under summer, 
fever and agues under autumn, and bronchial and plumonary 
complaints under winter. The public at large was warned against 
rashly swallowing the prescriptions of any physician whose family 
had not been three generations in the medical profession. 

When the Chows went into battle they formed a line with the 
bowman on the left and the spearman on the right flank. The 
centre was occupied by chariots, each drawn by three or four 
horses harnessed abreast. Swords, daggers, shields, iron headed 
clubs, huge iron hooks, drums, cymbals, gongs, horns, banners and 



MUSIC, SLAVERY, HOUSEHOLD HABITS. 45 

streamers innumerable were also among the equipment of war. 
Quarter was rarely if ever given and it was customary to cut the 
ears from the bodies of the slain. 

It was under the Chows, a thousand years before Christ, that 
the people of China began to possess family names. By the time 
of Confucius the use of surnames had become definitely estab- 
lished for all classes. The Chows founded a university, a shadow 
of which remains to the present day. They seem to have had 
theatrical representations of some kind, though it is diflBcult to 
say of what nature these actually were. Music must have already 
reached a stage of considerable development, if we are to believe 
Confucius himself, who has left it on record that after listening 
to a certain melody he was so affected as not to be able to taste 
meat for three months. 

Slavery was at this date a regular domestic institution and was 
not confined as now to the purchase of women alone ; and whereas 
in still earlier ages it had been usual to bury wooden puppets in 
the tombs of princes, we now read of slave boys and slave girls 
barbarously interred alive with the body of every ruler of a state, 
in order, as was believed, to wait upon the tyrant's spirit after 
death. But public opinion began during the Confucian era to 
discountenance this savage rite, and the son of a man who left 
instructions that he should be buried in a large coffin between 
two of his concubines, ventured to disobey his father's commands. 

We know that the Chows sat on chairs while all other eastern 
nations were sitting on the ground, and ate their food and drank 
their wine from tables ; that they slept on beds and rode on horse- 
back. They measured the hours with the aid of sun dials ; and 
the invention of the compass is attributed, though on somewhat 
insufficient grounds, to one of their earliest heroes. They played 
games of calculation of an abstruse character, and others involving 
dexterity. They appear to have worn shoes of leather, and stock- 
ings, and hats, and caps, in addition to robes of silk ; and to have 
possessed such other material luxuries as fans, mirrors of metal, 
bath tubs, and flat irons. But it is often difficult to separate 
truth from falsehood in the statement of Chinese writers with re- 
gard to their history. They are fond of exaggerating the civiliza- 
tion of their forefathers, which, as a matter of fact, was sufficiently 



46 



CONFUCIUS AND HIS WORK. 



advanced to command admiration without the undesirable coloring 
of fiction they have thus been tempted to lay on. 

Of the religions of the Chinese we will speak in a succeeding 
chapter, but it must be said here that during the Chow dynasty 
was born the most famous of Chinese teachers, Confucius. He 
was preceded about the middle of the dynasty by Lao-tzu, the 
founder of an abstruse system of ethical philosophy which was 

destined to develop into 
the Taoism of to-da3\ 
Closely following, and 
partially a contemporary, 
came Confucius," a teacher 
who has been equalled in 
his influence upon masses 
of the human race by Bud- 
dha alone and approached 
only by Mahomet and 
Christ." Confucius de- 
voted his life chiefly to 
the moral amelioration of 
his fellow men by oral 
teaching, but he was also 
an author of many works. 
A hundred years later 
came Mencius, the record 
of whose teachings also 
forms an important part 
of the course of study of a 
modern student in China. 
His pet theory was that 
the nature of man is good, 
and that all evil tendencies are necessarily acquired from evil 
communications either by heredity or association. It was during 
this same period that the literature of the Chinese language was 
founded. Of this subject, and some of the famous works, more 
will be said in a succeeding chapter devoted to literature and 
education. 

In their campaign against the prevailing lawlessness and 




IMAGE OF CONFUCIUS. 




MANCHOORIAN MINISTERS. 



WHAT THE REST OF THE WORLD WAS DOING. 49 

violence, neither Confucius nor Mencius was able to make any 
headway. Their preachings fell on deaf ears and their peaceful 
admonitions were passed unheeded by men who held their fiefs 
by the strength of their right arms, and administeied the affairs 
of their principalities surrounded by the din of war. The feudal 
system and the dynasty of the Chows were tottering when Con- 
fucius died although it was more than two hundred years after 
when Ch'in acquired the supremacy. 

The nine centuries covered by the history of the Chows were 
full of stirring incidents in other parts of the world. The Trojan 
war had just been brought to an end and ^neas had taken refuge 
in Italy from the sack of Troy. Early in the dynasty Zoroaster 
was founding in Persia the religion of the Magi, the worship of 
fire which survives in the Parseeisra of Bombay. Saul was made 
king of Israel and Solomon built the temple of Jerusalem. Later 
on Lycurgus gave laws to the Spartans and Romulus laid the first 
stone of the Eternal City. Then came the Babylonic captivity, 
the appearance of Buddha, the conquest of Asia Minor by Cyrus, 
the rise of the Roman Republic, the defeats of Darius at Marathon 
and of Xerxes at Salamis, the Peloponnesian War, the retreat of 
the Ten Thousand, and Roman conquests down to the end of the 
first Punic war. From a literary point of view the Chow dynasty 
was the age of the Vedas in India ; of Homer, .^schylus, Herod- 
otus, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Aristotle and Demosthenes in 
Greece ; and of the Jewish prophets from Samuel to Daniel ; and 
of the Talmud as originally undertaken by the scribes subsequent 
to the return from the captivity in Babylon. 

It has been stated that the imperial rule of the Chows over the 
vassal states which made up the China of those early days, was 
gradually undermined by the growing power and influence of one 
of the latter, the very name of which was transformed into a by- 
word of reproach, so that to call a person " a man of Ch'in " was 
equivalent to saying in vulgar parlance, "He is no friend of 
mine." The struggle between the Ch'ins and the rest of the 
empire may be likened to the struggle between Athens and the 
rest of Greece though the end in each case was not the same. 
The state of Ch'in vanquished its combined opponents, and finally 
established a dynasty, shortlived indeed, but containing among 



50 



THE FIRST EMPEROR OF CHINA. 



the few rulers who sat upon the throne, only about fifty years iii 
all, the name of one remarkable man, the first emperor of the 
united China. 

On the ruins of the old feudal system, the landmarks of which 
his three or four predecessors had succeeded in sweeping away, 
Hwang Ti laid the foundations of a coherent empire which was 




GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 

to date from himself as its founder. He sent an army of 300,000 
men to fight against the Huns. He dispatched a fleet to search 
for some mysterious islands off the coast of China ; and this ex- 
pedition has since been connected with the colonization of Japan. 
He built the Great Wall which is nearly fourteen hundred miles in 
length, forming the most prominent artificial object on the surface 



THE BURNING OF THE BOOKS. . 6l 

of the earth. His copper coinage was so uniformly good that the 
cowry disappeared altogether from commerce with this reign. Ac- 
cording to some, the modern hair pencil employed by the Chinese 
as a pen was invented about this time, to be used for writing on 
silk; while the characters themselves underwent certain modifi- 
cations and orthographical improvements. The first emperor de- 
sired above all things to impart a fresh stimulus to literary effort ; 
but he adopted singularly unfortunate means to secure this de- 
sirable end. For listening to the insidious flattery of courtiers, he 
determined that literature should begin anew with his reign. He 
therefore issued orders for the destruction of all existing books, 
with the exception of works treating of medicine, agriculture and 
divination and the annals of his own house; and he actually put 
to death many hundreds of the literati who refused to comply 
with these commands. The decree was obeyed as faithfully as 
was possible in case of so sweeping an ordinance and for many 
years a night of ignorance rested on the country. Numbers of 
valuable works thus perished in a general literary conflagration, 
popularly known as " the burning of the books ; " and it is partly 
to accident and partly to the pious efforts of the scholars of the 
age, that posterity is indebted for the preservation of the most 
precious relics of ancient Chinese literature. The death of Hwang 
Ti was the signal for an outbreak among the dispossessed feudal 
princes, who, however, after some years of disorder, were again 
reduced to the rank of citizens by a successful peasant leader who 
adopted the title of Kaou Ti, and named his dynasty that of Han, 
with himself its first emperor. 

From that day to this, with occasional interregnums, the empire 
has been ruled on the lines laid down by Hwang Ti. Dynasty 
has succeeded dynasty but the political tradition has remained un- 
changed, and though Mongols and Manchoos have at different 
times wrested the throne from its legitimate heirs,'they have been 
engulfed in a homogeneous mass inhabiting the empire, and in- 
stead of impressing their seal upon the country, have become but 
the reflection of the vanquished. The stately House of Han ruled 
over China for four hundred years, approximately from 200 B. C. 
to 200 A. D. During the whole period the empire made vast 
strides towards a more settled state of prosperity and civilization, 



52 



HISTORY OF THE HAN DYNASTY. 



although there were constant wars with the Tartar tribes to the 
north and the various Turkish tribes on the west. The communi- 
cations with the Huns were particularly close, and even now 
traces of Hunnish influence are discernible in several of the 
recognized surnames of the Chinese. This dynasty also wit- 
nessed the spectacle, most unusual in the east, of a woman 
wielding the imperial sceptre ; and hers was not a reign calcu- 
lated to inspire the people of China with much faith either in the 

virtue or the administrative 
ability of the sex. In Chinese 
history however, her place is 
that of the only female sover- 
eign who ever legitimately 
occupied the throne. 

It was under the Han 
dynasty that the religion of 
Buddha first became known 
to the Chinese people, and 
Taoism began to develop 
from quiet philosophy to 
foolish superstitions and 
practices. It was also dur- 
ing this period that the Jews 
appear to have founded a 
colony in Honan, but we 
cannot say what kind of a 
reception was accorded to 
the new faith. In the glow 
of early Buddhism, and in 
the exciting times of its subsequent persecution, it is probable 
that Judaism failed to attract much serious attention from the 
Chinese. In 1850 certain Hebrew rolls were recovered from the 
few remaining descendants of former Jews ; but there was then 
no one left who could read a word of them, or who possessed any 
knowledge of the creed of their forefathers, beyond a few tradi- 
tions of the scantiest possible kind. 

But the most remarkable of all events connected with our 
present period, was the general revival of learning and author- 




BUDDHIST PRIEST. 



FAMOUS MEN OF THIS PERIOD. 63 

ship. The Confucian texts were rescued from hiding places in 
which they had been concealed at the risk of death ; editing com- 
mittees were appointed, and immense efforts made to repair the 
mischief sustained by literature at the hand of the first emperor. 
Ink and paper were invented and authorship was thus enabled to 
make a fresh start, the very start indeed, that the first emperor 
had longed to associate with his own reign, and had attempted to 
secure by such impracticable means. During the latter portion 
of the second century B. C, flourished the " Father of Chinese 
History." His great work, which has been the model for all sub- 
sequent histories, is divided into one hundred and thirty books, 
and deals with a period extending from the reign of the Yellow 
emperor down to his own times. In another branch of literature, 
a foremost place among the lexicographers of the world may 
fairly be claimed for Hsu Shen, the author of a famous dic- 
tionary. Many other celebrated writers lived and prospered dur- 
ing the Han dynasty. One man whose name must be mentioned 
insured for himself, by his virtue and integrity, a more imper- 
ishable fame than any mere literary achievement could bestow. 
Yang Chen was indeed a scholar of no mean attainments, and 
away in his occidental home he was known as the "Confucius 
of the west." An ofiicer of government in a high position, 
with every means of obtaining wealth at his command, he lived 
and died in comparative poverty, his only object of ambition being 
the reputation of a spotless ofiicial. The Yangs of his day grum- 
bled sorely at opportunities thus thrown away ; but the Yangs of 
to-day glory in the fame of their great ancestor and are proud to 
worship in the ancestral hall to which his uprightness has be- 
queathed the name. For once when pressed to receive a bribe, 
with the additional inducement that no one would know of the 
transaction, he quietly replied — " How so ? Heaven would know ; 
earth would know ; you would know and I should know." And 
to this hour the ancestral shrine of the clan of the Yangs bears 
as it name " The Hall of the Four Knows." 

It was in all probability under the dynasty of the Hans that 
the drama first took its place among the amusements of the 
people. 

It is unnecessary to linger over the four centuries which con- 



64 ADVANCE IN THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD. 

nect the Hans with the T'angs. There was not in them that dis- 
tinctness of character or coherency of aim which leave a great 
impress upon the times. The three kingdoms passed rapidly 
awaj^ and other small dynasties succeeded them, but their names 
and dates are not essential to a right comprehension of the state 
of China then or now. A few points may, however, be briefly 
mentioned before quitting this period of transition. Diplomatic 
relations were opened with Japan ; and Christianity was intro- 
duced by the Nestorians under the title of the " luminous teach- 
ing." Tea was not known in China before this date. It was at 
the close of this transitional period that we first detect traces of 
the art of printing, still in an embryonic state, and it seems to be 
quite certain that before the end of the sixth centurj^ the Chinese 
were in possession of a method of reproduction from wooden 
blocks. . One of the last emperors of the period succeeded in 
adding largely to the empire by annexation toward the west. 
Embassies reached his court from various nations, including 
Japan and Cochin China, and helped to add to the lustre of his 
reign. 

The three centuries A. D. 600-900, during which the T'angs 
sat upon the throne, form a brilliant epoch in Chinese history, 
and the southern people of China are still proud of the designa- 
tion which has descended to them as " men of T'ang." Emperor 
Hsuan Tsung fought against the prevailing extravagance in 
dress; founded a large dramatic college; and was an enthusias- 
tic patron of literature. Buddhism flourished during this period 
in spite of edicts against it. Finally, it gained the favor of the 
emperors and for a time overpowered even Confucianism. It 
was during the reign of the second emperor of tlie T'angs and 
only six years after the Hegira that the religion of Mahomet first 
reached the shores of China. A maternal uncle of the prophet 
visited the country and obtained permission to build a mosque 
at Canton, portions of which may perhaps still be found in the 
thrice restored structure which now stands upon its site. The 
use of paper money was first introduced by the government 
toward the closing years of the dynasty ; and it is near to this 
time that we can trace back the existence of the modern court 



PAPER MONEY AND PRINTING. 55 

circular and daily record of edicts, memorials, etc., commonly 
known as the Peking Gazette. 

Another unimportant transition period, sixty years in duration, 
forms the connecting link between the houses of T'ang and 
Sung. It is known in Chinese history as the period of the five 
dynasties, after the five short-lived ones crowded into this space 
of time. It is remarkable chiefly for the more extended practice 
of printing from wooden blocks, the standard classical works 
being now for the first time printed in this -w&j. The discredit- 
able custom of cramping women's feet into the so-called "golden 
lilies " belongs probably to this date, though referred by some to 
a period several hundred years later. 

It has been said before that the age of the T'angs was the age 
of Mahomet and his new religion, the propagation of which was 
destined to meet in the west with a fatal check from the arms of 
Charles Martel at the battle of Tours. It was the age of Rome 
independent under her early popes; of Charlemagne as emperor 
of the west; of Egbert as first king of England; and of Alfred 
the Great. 

The Sung dynasty extended from about A. D. 960 to 1280. 
The first portion of this dynasty may be considered as on the 
whole, one of the most prosperous and peaceable periods of the 
history of China. The nation had already in a great measure 
settled down to that state of material civilization and mental 
culture in which it may be said to have been discovered by 
Europeans a few centuries later. To the appliances of Chinese 
ordinary life it is probable that but few additions have been made 
even since a much earlier date. The national costume has indeed 
undergone subsequent variations, and at least one striking 
change has been introduced in later years, that is, the tail, which 
will be mentioned later. But the plows and hoes, the water 
wheels and well sweeps, the tools of artisans, mud huts, junks, 
carts, chairs, tables, chopsticks, etc., which we still see in China, 
are doubtless approximately those of more than two thousand 
years ago. Meneius observed tliat the written language was 
the same, and axle-trees of the same length all over the empire ; 
and to this day an unaltering uniformity is one of the cliief char- 
{^.cteristics of the Chinese people in every department of life. 



66 INVASIONS OF THE TARTARS AND MONGOLS., 

The house of Sung was not however without the usual troubles 
for any length of time. Periodical revolts are the special feature 
of Chinese history, and the Sungs were hardly exempt from them 
in a greater degree than other dynasties. The Tartars too, were 
forever encroaching upon Chinese territory and finally overran 
and occupied a large part of northern China. This resulted in an 
amicable arrangement to divide the empire, the Tartars retaining 
their conquests in the north. Less than a hundred years later 
came the invasion of the Mongols under Genghis Khan, with the 
long struggle which eventuated -in a complete overthrow of both 
the Tartars and the Sungs and the final establishment of the 
Mongol dynasty under Kublai Khan, whose success was in a 
great measure due to the military capacity of his famous lieuten- 
ant Bayan. From this struggle one name in particular has sur- 
vived to form a landmark of which the Chinese are justly proud. 
It is that of the patriot statesman Wen T'ien-hsiang, whose 
fidelity to the Sungs no defeats could shake, no promises under- 
mine; and who perished miserably in the hands of the enemy 
rather than abjure the loyalty which had been the pride and 
almost the object of his existence. 

Another name inseparably connected with the history of the 
Sungs is that of Wang An-sliih who has been styled " The Inno- 
vator " from the gigantic administrative changes or innovations 
he labored ineffectually to introduce. The chief of these were a 
universal system of militia under which the whole body of citizens 
were liable to military drill and to be called out for service in 
time of need ; and a system of state loans to agriculturists in order 
to supply capital for more extensive and more remunerative farm- 
ing operations. His schemes were ultimately set aside through the 
opposition of a statesman whose name is connected even more closely 
with literature than with politics. SsumaKuang spent nineteen 
years of his life in the compilation of " The Mirror of History," a 
history of China in two hundred and ninety-four books, from the 
earliest times of the Chow dynastj'- down to the accession of the 
house of Sung. 

A century later this lengthy production was recast in a 
greatly condensed form under the superintendence of Chu Hsi, 
the latter work at once taking rank as the standard history 




i^^^'^ 



LITERARY WORK OF THE SUNG DYNASTY, 



59 



of China to that date. Chu Hsi hunself played in other ways 
by far the most important part among all the literary giants of 
the Sungs. Besides holding, during a large portion of his life, 
high official position, with an almost unqualified success, his 
writings are more extensive and more varied in character than 
those of any other Chinese author ; and the complete collection 




CHINESE WRITER. 



of his great philosophical works, published in 1713, fills no fewer 
than sixty-six books. He introduced interpretations of the Con- 
fucian classics, either wholly or partially at variance with those 
which had been put forth by the scholars of the Han dynasty 
and received as infallible ever since, thus modifying to a certain 
extent the prevailing standard of political and social morality. 



60 A FAMOUS CHINESE POET. 

His principle was simply one of consistency. He refused to in- 
terpret certain words in a given passage in one sense and the 
same words occurring elsewhere in another sense. And this 
principle recommended itself at once to the highly logical 
mind of the Chinese. Chu Hsi's commentaries were received 
to the exclusion of all others and still form the only author- 
ized interpretation of the classical books, upon a knowledge of 
which all success at the great competitive examination for 
literary degrees may be said to entirely depend. 

It would be a lengthy task to merely enumerate the names in 
the great phalanx of writers who flourished under the Sungs and 
who formed an Augustan Age of Chinese literature. Exception 
must however be made in favor of Ou-Yang Hsiu, who besides 
being an eminent statesman, was a voluminous historian of the 
immediately preceding dynasties, an essayist of rare ability, and a 
poet ; and of Su Tung-p'o whose name next to that of Chu Hsi 
fills the largest place in Chinese memorials of this period. A 
vigorous opponent of " The Innovator," he suffered banishment 
for his opposition ; and again, after his rival's fall, he was similarly 
punished for further crossing the imperial will. His exile 
was shared by the beautiful and accomplished girl " Morning 
Clouds," to whose inspiration we owe many of the elaborate 
poems and other productions in the composition of which the 
banished poet beguiled his time ; and whose untimely death of 
consumption, on the banks of their favorite lake, hastened the poet's 
end, which occurred shortly after his recall from banishment. 

Buddhism and Taoism had by this time made advances toward 
tacit terms of mutual toleration. They wisely agreed to share 
rather than to quarrel over the carcass which lay at their feet ; 
and from that date they have flourished together without prejudice. 

The system of competitive examinations and literary degrees 
had been still more fully elaborated, and the famous child's primer, 
the " Three Character Classic," which is even now the first step- 
ping stone to knowledge, had been placed in the hands of school 
boys. The surnames of the people were collected to the number 
of four hundred and thirty-eight in all; and although this was 
admittedly not complete, the great majority of those names which 
were omitted, once perhaps in common use, have altogether disap- 



LITERATURE, LAW, AND MEDICINE. 61 

peared. It is comparatively rare nowadays to meet with a person 
whose family name is not to be found within the limits of this 
small collection. Administration of justice is said to have flour- 
ished under the incorrupt officials of this dynasty. The func- 
tions of magistrates were more fully defined ; while the study 
of medical jurisprudence was stimulated by the publication of a 
volume which, although combining the maximum of superstition 
with the minimum of scientific research, is still the officially 
recognized text book on all subjects connected with murder, 
suicide and accidental death. Medicine and the art of healing 
came in for a considerable share of attention at the hands of the 
Sungs and many voluminous works on therapeutics have come 
down to us from this period. Inoculation for small-pox has been 
known to the Chinese at least since the early years of this 
dynasty if not earlier. 

The irruption of the Mongols under Genghis Khan, and the 
comparatively short dynasty which was later on actually estab- 
lished under Kublai Khan, may be regarded as the period of 
transition from the epoch of the Sungs to the ej)Och of the Mings. 
For the first eighty years after the nominal accession of Genghis 
Khan the empire was more or less in a state of siege and martial 
law from one end to the other ; and then in less than one hundred 
years afterwards the Mongol dynasty had passed away. The 
story of Ser Marco Polo and his wonderful travels, familiar to 
most readers, gives us a valuable insight into this period of brill- 
iant courts, thronged marts, fine cities, and great national wealth. 

At this date the literary glory of the Sungs had hardly begun 
to grow dim. Ma Tuan-lin carried on his voluminous work 
through all the troublous times, and at his death bequeathed to 
the world " The Antiquarian Researches," in three hundred and 
forty -eight books, which have made his name famous to every 
student of Chinese literature. Plane and spherical trigonometry 
were both known to the Chinese by this time, and mathematics 
generally began to receive a larger share of the attention of 
scholars. It was also under the Mongol dynasty that the novel 
first made its appearance, a fact pointing to a definite social ad- 
vancement, if only in the direction of luxurious reading. Among 



62 KUBLAI KHAN AND HIS EEIGN. 

other points may be mentioned a great influx of Mohammedans, 
and consequent spread of their religion about tins time. 

The Grand Canal was completed by Kublai Khan, and thus 
Cambaluc, the Peking of those days, was united by inland water 
communication with the extreme south of China. The work 
seems to have been begun by the Emperor Yang Ti seven cen- 
turies previously, but the greater part of the undertaking was 
done in the reign of Kublai Khan. Hardly so successful was the 
same emperor's huge naval expedition against Japan, which in 
point of number of ships and men, the insular character of the 
enemy's country, the chastisement intended, and tlie total loss of 
the fleet in a storm, aided by the stubborn resistance of the Jap- 
anese themselves, suggests a very obvious comparison with the 
object and fate of the Spanish Armada. 

The age of the Sungs carries us from a hundred years previous 
to the Norman Conquest down to about the death of Edward III. 
It was the epoch of Venetian commerce and maritime supremacy; 
and of the first great lights in Italian literature, Dante, Petrarch 
and Boccacio. English, French, German and Spanish literature 
had yet to develop, only one or two of the earlier writers, such 
as Chaucer, having yet appeared on the scene. 

The founder of the Ming dynasty rose from starvation and ob- 
scurity to occupy the throne of the Chinese empire. In his youth 
he sought refuge from the pangs of hunger in a Buddhist monas- 
tery ; later on he became a soldier of fortune, and joined the 
ranks of the insurgents who were endeavoring to shake off the 
alien yoke of the Mongols. His own great abilities carried him 
on. He speedily obtained the leadership of a large army, with 
which he totally destroyed the power of the Mongols, and finally 
established a new Chinese dynasty over the thirteen provinces 
into which the empire was divided. He fixed his capitol at Nan- 
king, where it remained until the accession of the third emperor, 
the conqueror of Cochin China and Tonquin, who transferred the 
seat of government back to Peking, the capitol of the Mongols, 
from which it has never since been removed. 

For nearly three hundred years, from 1370 to 1650, the Mings 
swayed the destinies of China. Their rule was not one of unin- 
terrupted peace, either within or without the empire ; but it was 



FOUNDING THE MING DYNASTY. 



65 



on the whole a wise and popular rule, and the period which it 
covers is otherwise notable for immense literary activity and for 
considerable refinement in manners and material civilization. 

From without, the Mings were constantly harrassed by the 
encroachments of the Tartars; while from within the ceaseless 
intriguing of the eunuchs was a fertile cause of trouble. 

Chief among the literary achievements of this period, is the 




ANCIENT CHINESE ARCH. 



gigantic encyclopedia in over twenty-two thousand books, only 
one copy of which, and that imperfect, has survived out of the 
four that were originally made. Allowing fifty octavo pages to 
a book, the result would be a total of at least one million one 
hundred thousand pages, the index alone occupying no fewer 
than three thousand pages. This wonderful work is now probably 
rotting, if not already rotted beyond hope of preservation, La 



66 A CHINESE EMPEROR'S PRIVATE LIBRARY. 

some damp corner of the imperial palace at Peking. Another im 
portant and more accessible production was the so-called " Chinese 
Herbal." This was a compilation from the writings of no fewer 
than eight hundred preceding writers on botany, mineralogy, 
entomology, etc., the whole forming a voluminous but unsci- 
entific book of reference on the natural history of China. 
Shortly after the accession of the third emperor, Yung Lo, the 
imperial library was estimated to contain written and printed 
works amounting to a total of about one million in all. A book 
is a variable quantity in Chinese literature, both as regards num- 
ber and size of pages ; the number of books to a work also vary 
fj'om one to several hundred. But reckoning fifty pages to a book 
and twenty or twenty-five books to a work, it will be seen that 
the collection was not an unworthy private library for any em- 
peror in the early years of the fifteenth century. 

The overthrow of the Mings was brought about by a combina- 
tion of events of the utmost importance to those who would un- 
derstand the present position of the Tartars as rulers of China. 
A sudden rebellion had resulted in the capture of Peking by the 
insurgents, and in the suicide of the emperor who was fated to be 
the last of his line. The imperial commander-in-chief, Wu San- 
kuei, at that time away on the frontiers of Manchooria engaged in 
resisting the incursions of the Manchoo-Tartars, now for a long 
time in a state of ferment, immediately hurried back to the 
capitol but was totall}'- defeated by the insurgent leader and once 
more made his way, this time as a fugitive and a suppliant, toward 
the Tartar camp. Here he obtained promises of assistance 
chiefly on condition that he would shave his head and grow a tail 
in accordance with Manchoo custom, and again set oE with his 
new auxilliaries toward Peking, being reinforced on the way by a 
body of Mongol volunteers. As things turned out, the com- 
mander arrived in Peking in advance of these allies, and actually 
succeeded with the remnant of his own scattered forces in routing 
the troups of the rebel leader before the Tartars and the Mon- 
gols came up. He then started in pursuit of the flying foe. 
Meanwhile the Tartar contingent arrived and on entering the 
capitol the young Manchoo prince in command was invited by the 
people of Peking to ascend the vacant throne. So that by the 



FOUNDING OP THE PRESENT RULING DYNASTY. 6T 

time Wu San-kuei reappeared, he found a new dynasty already 
established and his late Manchoo ally at the head of affairs. His 
first intention had doubtless been to continue the Ming line of 
emperors ; but he seems to have readily fallen in with the arrange- 
ment already made and to have tendered his formal allegiance on 
the four following conditions : 

That no Chinese woman should be taken into the imperial se- 
raglio ; that the first place at the great triennial examination for 
the highest literary degrees should never be given to a Tartar ; 
that the people should adopt the national costume of the Tartars 
in their everyday life : but that they should be allowed to bury 
their corpses in the dress of the late dynasty ; that this condition 
of costume should not apply to the women of China who were not 
to be compelled either to wear the hair in a tail before marriage 
as the Tartar girls do, or to abandon the custom of compressing 
their feet. 

The great Ming dynasty was now at an end, though not destined 
wholly to pass away. A large part of it may be said to remain 
ill the literary monuments. The dress of the period survives 
upon the modern Chinese stage ; and when occasionally the alien 
yoke has galled, seditious whispers of " restoration " are not al- 
together unheard. Secret societies have always been dreaded and 
prohibited by the government; and of these none more so than 
the famous " Triad Society," in which heaven, earth, and man are 
supposed to be associated in close alliance, and whose watchword 
is believed to embody some secret allusion to the downfall of the 
present dynasty. 

In the latter part of the sixteenth century, the civilization of 
western Europe began to make itself felt in China by the advent 
of the Portuguese, and this matter will be returned to in the fol- 
lowing chapter. 

In other parts of the world, eventful times have set in. In 
England we are brought from the accession of Richard II. down 
to the struggle between the king and the commons and the ulti- 
mate establishment of the commonwealth. We have Henry IV. 
in France and Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain. In England, 
Shakspeare and Bacon; in France, Rabelais and Descartes; in 
Germany, Luther and Copernicus ; in Spain, Cervantes ; and in 



68 IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. 

Italy, Galileo,Machiaveni andTasso; these names to which should 
be added those of the great explorers, Columbus and Vasco de 
Gama, serve to remind one of what was meanwhile passing in the 
west. 



FROM FIRST CONTACT WITH EUROPEAN CIVIUZA- 
TION TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 



How the Western Nations Formed the Acquaintance of China— First Mention of the 
Orient by Grecian and Roman Historians— Introduction of Judaism— Nestorian Missionaries 
Bring Christianity— Marco Polo's Wonderful Journey— Eoman Missionaries in the Field— 
Dissentions among Christians Discredit their Work— Work of the Jesuits— The Dynasty of 
the Chings— Splendid Literary Labors of Two Emperors— Englands First Embassy to 
China— The Opium War— Opening the Ports of China— Treaties witli Western Nations— The 
Tai-Ping Rebellion— The Later Years of Chinese History. 

The works of several Greek and Roman historians, principally 
those of Ptolemy and Arian, who lived in the second century, 
contain references of a vague character to a country now generally 
believed to be China. Ptolemy states that his information came 
from the agents of Macedonian traders, who gave him an account 
of a journey of seven months from the principal city of eastern 
Turkestan, in a direction east inclining a little south. It is 
probable that these agents belonged to some of the Tartar tribes 
of Central Asia. They represented the name of this most eastern 
nation to be Serica, and that on the borders of this kingdom they 
met and traded with its inhabitants, the Seres. Herodotus speaks 
of the Isadores as a people in the extreme north-east of Asia. 
Ptolemy also mentions these tribes as a part of Serica and under 
its sway. Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian of the 
fourth century, speaks of the land of the Seres as surrounded by 
a higli and continuous wall. This was about six hundred years 
after the great wall of northern China was built. Virgil, Pliny, 
Ricitus and Juvenal refer to the Seres in connection with the 
Seric garments which seem to have been made of fine silk or 
gauze. This article of dress was much sought after in Rome by 
the wealthy and luxurious, and as late as the second century, is 
said to have been worth its weight in gold. From the length and 
description of the route of the traders, the description of the 
mountains and rivers which they passed, the character of the 
people with whom they traded and the articles of traffic, the evi- 
dence seems almost conclusive that the nation which the Greeks 
and Romans designated by the name of Serica is that now known 

(71) 



72 INTERCOURSE WITH WESTERN NATIONS. 

to us as China. The particular countries visited by the caravans 
which brought the silk to Europe, were probably the dependencies 
or territories of China on the west, or possibly cities within the 
extreme north-west limit of China proper. 

The introduction of Judaism into China is evidenced by a 
Jewish synagogue which existed until quite recently in Kai-fung- 
foo, a city in the province of Honan. Connected with this 
synagogue were some Hebrew manuscripts, and a few worshippers 
who retained some of the forms of their religion, but very little 
knowledge of its real character and spirit. There is a great deal 
of uncertainty as to when the Jews came to China, though they 
have, no doubt, resided there for many centuries. 

Nestorian missionaries entered China some time before the 
seventh century. The principal record which they have left of 
the success of their missions is the celebrated Nestorian monu- 
ment in Fengan-foo. This monument contains a short history of 
the sect from the year 630 to 781, and also an abstract of the 
Christian religion. The missionaries of this sect have left but few 
records of their labors or of their observations as travelers, but 
the churches planted by them seem to have existed until a com- 
paratively recent period. Tlie Romish missionaries who entered 
China in the beginning of the fourteenth century, found them 
possessed of considerable influence, not only among the people, 
but also at court, and met with no little opposition from them in 
their first attempts to introduce the doctrines of their church. It 
seems to be true that during the period of nearly eight hundred 
years in which Nestorian Christianity maintained its foothold in 
China, large numbers of converts were made. But in process of 
time the Nestorian churches departed widely from their first 
teachings. After the fall of the Mongolian empire they were cut 
off from connection with the west, and not having sufficient 
vitality to resist the adverse influences of heathenism the people 
by degrees relapsed into idolatry or took up the new faiths that 
were introduced. 

The first western writer, whose works are extant, who has given 
anything like full and explicit explanation respecting China is 
Ser Marco Polo. He went to China in the year 1274, in company 
with his father and uncle, who were Venetian noblemen. At this 



SER MARCO POLO'S JOURNEY TO CHINA. 73 

time, the independent nomad tribes of central Asia being united 
in one government, it was practicable to reach eastern Asia by 
passing through the Mongolian empire. Marco Polo spent 
twenty-four years in China, and seems to have been treated 
kindly and hospitably. After his return to Europe he was taken 
prisoner in a war with the Genoese, and during his confinement 
wrote an account of his travels. The description he gives of the 
vast territories of China, its teeming population, and flourishing 
cities, the refinement and civilization of its people, and their 
curious customs, seemed to his countrymen more like a fiction of 
fairyland than sober and authentic narrative. It is said that he 
was urged when on his death bed to retract these statements and 
make confession of falsehood, whicli he refused to do. He was 
undoubtedly one of the most remarkable travelers of any age. 

During the period of the Mongolian empire which compre- 
hended under its sway the greater part of Asia from China on the 
east to the Mediterranean on the west, an intense desire was 
kindled in the Roman church to convert this powerful nation to 
its faith. Among the first and the most noted of the missionaries 
sent to China at this time, was John of Mount Corvin, who 
reached Peking in 1293. He was afterward made an archbishop. 
From time to time bishops and priests were sent out to re-enforce 
this mission, but they met with indifferent success; and when the 
Mongols were driven from China the enterprise was abandoned 
as a complete failure. After the fall of the Mongolian empire, 
direct overland communication with eastern Asia was interrupted, 
and for about two hundred years China was again almost com- 
pletely isolated from the western world. 

The use of the magnetic needle, and improvements in naviga- 
tion, made a new era in intercourse with the Orient. It is sup- 
posed that the first voyage from Europe to China was made by a 
Portuguese vessel in 1516. From this period commercial inter- 
course with China became more frequent, and various embassies 
were sent to the Chinese court by different nations of Europe. 
Unfortunately the growing familiarity of the Chinese with west- 
era nations did not increase their respect and confidence in them. 
This was due partly to the servility of most of the embassies to 
Peking, but principally, no doubt, to the want of honesty and 
5 



74 DISSENSIONS BETWEEN THE SECTS. 

the general lawlessness of most of the traders from the west. 
The consequence was that the Chinese became desirous of re- 
stricting foreign intercourse, and exercising as strict surveillance 
over their troublesome visitors as possible. 

Immediately after connection was established between Europe 
and the far east by sea, another and a more successful effort was 
made by the Roman church to propagate its faith in the Chinese 
empire, this being coincident with the growth of the exchange of 
business. Francis Xavier, in his attempt to gain an entrance 
Into the country, died on one of the islands of the coast in 1552. 
Toward the close of the Sixteenth century the Portuguese ap- 
peared upon the scene, and from their " concession " at Macao, at 
one time the residence of Camoens, opened commercial relations 
between China and the west. They brought the Chinese, among 
other things, opium, which had previously been imported over- 
land from India. They possibly taught them how to make gun- 
powder, to the invention of which the Chinese do not seem, upon 
striking a balance of evidence, to possess an independent claim. 
About the same time Rome contributed the first installment of 
those wonderful Jesuit fathers whose names yet echo in the em- 
pire, the memory of their scientific labors and the benefits they 
thus conferred upon China having long survived the wreck and 
discredit of the faith to which they devoted their lives. At this 
distance of time it does not appear to be a wild statement, to as- 
sert that had the Jesuits, the Franciscans, and the Dominicans 
been able to resist quarreling among themselves, and had they 
ratlier united to persuade papal infallibility to permit the incor- 
poration of ancestor-worship with the rites and ceremonies of the 
Romish church, China would at this moment be a Catholic coun- 
try and Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism would long since 
have receded into the past. 

Of all these Jesuit missionaries, the name of Matteo Ricci 
stands by common consent upon the long list. He established 
himself in Canton in the garb of a Buddhist priest in 1581. He 
was a man of varied intellectual gifts and extensive learning, 
united with indomitable energy, zeal and perseverance, and great 
prudence. In 1601 he reached Peking in the dress of a literary 
gentleman. He spent many years in China. He associated with 



DISSENSIONS BETWEEN THE SECTS. 



75 



the highest personages in the land. He acquired an unrivalled 
knowledge of the book language, and left behind him several 




CHINESE PRIEST. 



valuable treatises of a metaphysical and theological character, 
written in such a polished style as to command the recognition 



76 BEGINNING OF THE REIGNING DYNASTY. 

and even the admiration of the Chinese. One of his most inti- 
mate friends and fellow workers was the well-known scholar and 
statesman, Hsu Kuang-chi, the author of a voluminous com- 
pendium of agriculture, and joint author of the large work 
which introduced European astronomy to the Chinese. He was 
appointed by the emperor to co-operate with other Jesuit mis- 
sionaries in reforming the national calendar, which had gradually 
reached a stage of hopeless inaccuracy. He wrote independently 
several small scientific works ; also a severe criticism of the 
Buddhist religion, and finally, not least in importance, a defense 
of the Jesuits, addressed to the throne, when their influence at 
court had begun to excite envy 
and distrust. Hsu Kuang-chi 
forms the sole exception in the 
history of China of a scholar and 
a man of means and position on 
the side of Christianity. 

The age of the Chings is the 
age in which we live, but it is not 
so familiar to some persons as it 
ought to be that a Tartar and not 
a Chinese sovereign is now seated 
on the throne in China. For some 
time after the accession of the 
first Manchoo emperor, there was 
considerable friction between the 
two races. The subjugation of 

MAN OF SWATOW. , . i ,, t,t i 

the empire by the Manchoos was 
followed by a military occupation of the country, which survived 
the original necessity, and has remained part of the system of 
government until the present day. The dynasty thus founded, 
partly by accident as it seems, as was related in the last chapter, 
has remained in power through the entire period of intercourse 
with western nations. The title adopted by the first emperor of 
the line was Shun-che. It was during the reign of this sovereign 
that Adam Schaal, a German Jesuit, took up his residence at 
Peking and that the first Russian embassy, 1656, visited the cap- 
ital. But in those days the Chinese had not learned to tolerate 




THE GREATEST OF THE CHING RULERS. 77 

the idea that a foreigner should enter the presence of the Son of 
Heaven unless he were willing to perform the prostration known 
as the Ko-t'ow, and the Russians not being inclined to humor 
any such presumptuous folly left the capital without opening 
negotiations. 

Of the nine emperors of this line, from the first to the present, 
the second in every way fills the largest space in Chinese history. 
Kang Hi, the son of Slmn-che, reigned for sixty-one years. This 
sovereign is renowned in modern Chinese history as a model ruler, 
a skillful general and an able author. During his reign Thibet 
was added to the empire, and the Eleuths were successfully sub- 
dued. But it is as a just and considerate ruler that he is best re- 
membered among the people. He treated the early Catholic 
priests with kindness and distinction, and availed himself in many 
ways of their scientific knowledge. He promulgated sixteen 
moral maxims collectively known as the " Sacred Edict," forming 
a complete code of rules for the guidance of every day life, and 
presented in such terse, yet intelligible terms, that they at once 
took firm hold of the public mind and have retained their position 
ever since. Kang Hi was the most successful patron of literature 
the world has ever seen. He caused to be published under hi? 
own personal supervision the four following compilations, known 
as the four great works of the present dynasty : A huge thesaurus 
of extracts in one hundred and ten thick volumes ; an encyclopedia 
in four hundred and fifty books, usually bound in one hundred and 
sixty volumes ; an enlarged and improved edition of a herbarium 
in one hundred books ; and a complete collection of the important 
philosophical writings of Chu Hsi in sixty-six books. In addition 
to these the emperor designed and gave his name to the great 
modern lexicon of the Chinese language, which contains over 
forty thousand characters under separate entries, accompanied 
in each case by appropriate citations from the works of authors 
of every age and every style. The monumental encyclopedia 
contains articles on every known subject, and extracts fiom all 
works of authority dating from the twelfth century B. C. to that 
time. As only one hundred copies of the first imperial edition 
were printed, all of which were presented to princes of the blood 
and high officials, it is rapidly becoming extremely rare, and it is 



78 NEARING MODERN TIMES. 

not unlikely that before long the copy in the possession of the 
British museum will be the only complete copy existing. A cold 
caught on a hunting excursion in Mongolia brought his memorable 
reign of sixty-one years to a close, and he was succeeded on the 
throne by his son Yung Ching. 

The labors of the missionfiries during the years of this last reign 
have been effective in establishing many churches and bishoprics, 
and in making many thousands of converts. But the suspicions 
in the minds of the Chinese rulers that the Christians were 
leagued with rebels, as well as the controversies between the 
different sects, antagonized the authorities. Under the third 
Manchoo emperor, Yung Ching, began that violent persecution of 
the Catholics which continued almost to the present day, and in 
the year 1723 an edict was promulgated proliibiting the further 
propagation of this religion in the empire. From this time the 
Roman Catholics were subjected to this persecution except for a 
few alternate periods of comparative toleration. They have re- 
tained their position in the face of great difBculties and trials, and 
since the late treaties with China the number of their converts 
has rapidly increased. 

After a reign of twelve years, Yung Ching was gathered to his 
fathers, having bequeathed the throne to his son Kien Lung. This 
fourth emperor of the dynasty enjoyed a long and glorious reign. 
He possessed many of the great qualities of his grandfather, but 
he lacked his wisdom and moderation. His generals led a large 
army into Nepaul and conquered the Goorkhas, reaching a point 
only some sixty miles distant from British territory. He carried 
his armies north, south, and west, and converted Kuldja into a 
Chinese province. But in Burmah, Cochin China, and Formosa 
his troops suffered discomfiture. During his reign, which ex- 
tended over sixty years, a full Chinese cycle, the relations of his 
government with the East India Company were extremely unsat- 
isfactory. The English merchants were compelled to submit to 
many indignities and wrongs ; and for the purpose of establishing 
a better international understanding Lord Macartney was sent by 
George III. on a special mission to the court of Peking. The 
ambassador was received graciously by the emperor, who accepted 
the presents sent him by the English king, but owing to his 



MONUMENTAL LITERARY LABORS. 81 

ignorance of his own relative position, and of even the rudiments 
of international law, he declined to give those assurances of a 
more equitable policy which were demanded of him. 

Like his illustrious ancestor, Kien Lung was a generous patron 
of literature, though only two instead of five great literary monu- 
ments remain to mark his sixty years of power. These are a 
magnificent bibliogiaphical work in two hundred parts, consisting 
of a catalogue of the books in the imperial library, with valuable 
historical and critical notices attached to the entries of each ; and 
a huge topography of the whole empire in five hundred books, 
beyond doubt one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive 
works of the kind ever published. Kang Hi had been a volumin- 
ous poet; but the productions of Kien Lung far outnumber those 
of any previous or subsequent bard. For more than fifty years 
this emperor was an industrious poet, finding time in the intervals 
of state duties to put together no fewer than thirty-three thousand 
nine hundred and fifty separate pieces. In the estimation however 
of this apparently impossible contribution to poetic literature, it 
must always be borne in mind that the stanza of four lines is a 
favorite length for a poem and that the conplet is not uncommon. 
Even thus a large balance stands to the credit of a Chinese em- 
peror, whose time is rarely his own, and whose day is divided with 
wearisome regularity, beginning with councils and audiences long 
before daylight has appeared. We gain a glimpse into Kien 
Lung's court from the account of Lord Macartney's embassy in 
1795, which was so favorably received by the venerable monarch 
a short time previous to his abdication, and three years before his 
death, and forms such a contrast with that of Lord Amherst to 
his successor in 1816. In 1795, at the age of eighty-five years, 
Kien Lung abdicated in favor of his fifteenth son who ascended 
the throne with the title of Kea King. 

During the reign of Kea King, a second English embassy was 
sent to Peking, in 1816, to represent to the emperor the unsatis- 
factory position of the English merchants in China. Tlie envoy, 
Lord Amherst, was met at the mouth of the Peiho and conducted 
to Yuen-ming-yuen or summer palace, where the emperor was re- 
siding. On his arrival he was officially warned that only on con- 
dition of his performing the Ko-t'ow would he be permitted to 



82 PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES AT WORK. 

behold " the diagou countenance." This of course was impos 




CHINESE PEASANT, PEIHO DISTRICT. 



sible-, and he consequently left the palace without having slept 9 
night under its roof. 



PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES AT WORK. 83 

Meanwhile the internal affairs of the country were even more 
disturbed than the foreign relations. A succession of rebellions 
broke out in the western and northern provinces and the sea- 
boards were ravaged by pirates. While these disturbing causes 
were in full play the emperor died, in 1820, and the throne de- 
volved upon Tao Kuang, his second son. It was during the 
reign of Kea King that Protestant missionaries initiated a syste- 
matic attempt to convert the Chinese to Christianity ; but the 
religious toleration of these people, which on the whole has been 
a marked feature in their civilization of all ages, had been sorely 
tried by the Catholics and but little progress was made. In an- 
other direction some of the early Protestant missionaries did 
great service to the world at large. They spent much of their 
time in grappling with the difficulties of the written language ; 
and the publication of Dr. Morrison's famous dictionary and the 
achievements of Dr. Legge were the culmination of these labors. 

Under Tao Kuang both home and foreign affairs went from 
bad to worse. A secret league known as the Triad Society, 
which was first formed during the reign of Kang Hi, now as- 
sumed a formidable bearing, and in many parts of the country, 
notably in Honan, Kwang-hsi, and Formosa, insurrections broke 
out at its instigation. At the same time the mandarins continued 
to persecute the English merchants, and on the expiration of the 
East India Company's monopoly in 1834 the English government 
sent Lord Napier to Canton to superintend the foreign trade at 
that port. Thwarted at every turn by the presumptuous obsti- 
nacy of the mandarins, Lord Napier's health gave way under the 
constant vexations connected with his post, and he died at Macao 
after but a few months' residence in China. 

The opium trade was now the question of the hour, and at the 
urgent demand of Commissioner Lin, Captain Elliot, the super- 
intendent of trade, agreed that all opium in the hands of English 
merchants should be given up to the authorities. On the 3rd of 
April, 1839, twenty thousand two hundred and eighty-three 
chests of opium were, in accordance with this agreement, 
handed over to the mandarins, who burnt them to ashes. 
This demand of Lin's, though agreed to by the superin- 
tendent of trade, was considered so unreasonable by the English 



84 OPIUM TRADE AND THE WAR. 

government that in the following year war was declared againsl 
China. The island of Chusan and the Bogue forts on the Canton 
river soon fell into the English hands, and Commissioner Lin's 
successor sought to purchase peace by the cession of Hong Kong 
and the payment of an indemnity of 16,000,000. This conven- 
tion was, however, repudiated by the Peking government, and it 
was not until Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, Shanghai, Chapoo and 
Chin-keang Foo had been taken by the British troops, that the 
emperor at last consented to come to terms, now of course far 
more onerous. By a treaty made by Sir Henry Pottinger in 
1842 the cession of Hong Kong was supplemented by the open- 
ing of the four ports of Amoy, Foochow Foo, Ningpo, and 
Shanghai to foreign trade, and the indemnity of $6,000,000 was 
increased to $21,000,000. 

Without noticing the other points at issue and the merits of 
the dispute concerning them, it is considered by the world at 
large that one of the blackest pages in the records of the history 
of civilization is that which tells of the forcing of the opium 
traffic upon the Chinese by Great Britain. The Chinese people 
were making most strenuous efforts to abolish the traffic in 
opium and the habit of its use, which had been introduced from 
India, and which was rapidly becoming the curse of the nation. 
But for commercial motives, in this Victorian age of civilization, 
England sent to force compliance Avith the demand of her mer- 
chants in China that the sale of tlie drug be legalized. The 
rapid spread of the use of opium among the hundreds of millions 
of Chinese, dating from this time, may be charged against En- 
gland, in the long account which records the oppression and the 
shame of her dealings with whatever eastern nation she has 
played the game of war and colonization and annexation. 

Death put an end to Tao Kuang's reign in 1850, and his fourth 
son, Hien Feng, assumed rule over the distracted empire which 
was bequeathed him by his father. There is a popular belief 
among the Chinese that two hundred years is the natural life of 
a dynasty. This is one of those traditions which are apt to 
bring about their own fulfilment, and in the beginning of the 
reign of Hien Feng the air was rife with rumors that an effort 
was to be made to restore the Ming dynasty to the throne. On 






1% 



K"^:* 



r . ir-^v^j^. 








,:■'■■' J 



III*; IRlB-isi^'^fe-a ^w 



:^f' 



HOW THE TAI-PING REBELLION BEGAN. 



87 



such occasions there are always real or pretended scions of the 
required family forthcoming. And when the flames of rebellion 
broke out in Kwang-hsia claimant suddenlj^ appeared under the 
title of Teen-tih, " heavenly virtue," to head the movement. But 
he had not the capacity required to play the necessary part, and 
the affair languished and would have died out altogether had not 
a leader named Hung Sew-tseuen arose, who combined all the 
qualities required in a leader of men, energy, enthusiasm, and 
religious bigotry. 

As soon as he was sufficiently powerful he advanced northward 
into Honan and 
Hoopih, and cap- 
tured Woo-chang 
Foo, the capital of 
the last named 
province, and a 
city of great com- 
mercial and strate- 
gical importance, 
situated as it is at 
the junction of the 
Han river with the 
Chiang. Having 
made this place 
secure he advanced 
down the river and 
made himself mas- 
ter of Gan-ting and 
the old capital of the empire, Nanking. Here in 1852 he estab- 
lished his throne, and proclaimed the commencement of Tai- 
ping dynasty. For himself he adopted the title of Teen-wang, or 
" heavenly king." For a time all went well with the new dynasty. 
The Tai-ping standard was carried northward to the walls of 
Tien-tsin and floated over the towns of Chin-keang Foo and 
Soochow Foo. 

Meanwhile the imperial authorities had by their stupidity raised 
another enemy against tliemselves. The outrage on the English 
flag perpetrated on board the Chinese lorcha " Arrow," at Canton 




CHINESE MANDARIN, 



88 CHINA AT WAR WITH ENGLAND. 

in 1857, having been left unredressed by the mandarins, led to 
the proclamation of war by England. Canton fell to the arms ol 
General Straubenzee, and Sir Michael Seymour in December of 
the same year, and in the following spring the Taku forts at the 
mouth of the Peiho having been taken, Lord Elgin, who had in 
the meantime arrived as plenipotentiary minister, advanced up 
the river to Tien-tsin on his way to the capital. At that city, 
however, he was met by imperial commissioners, and yielding to 
their entreaties he concluded a treaty with them which it was 
arranged should be ratified at Peking in the following year. 

But the evil genius of the Chinese still pursuing them, they 
treacherously fired on the fleet accompanying Sir Frederic Bruce, 
Lord Elgin's brother, proceeding in 1860 to Peking, in fulfillment 
of this agreement. This outrage rendered another military ex- 
pedition necessary, and in conjunction with the French govern- 
ment, the English cabinet sent out a force under the command 
of Sir Hope Grant, with orders to march to Peking. In the sum- 
mer of 1861 the allied forces landed at Pehtang, a village twelve 
miles north of the Taku forts, and taking these intrenchments in 
the rear captured tliem with but a trifling loss. This success 
was so utterly unexpected by the Chinese, that leaving Tien-tsin 
unprotected they retreated rapidly to the neighborhood of the 
capital. The allies pushed on after them, and in reply to an in- 
vitation sent from the imperial commissioners at Tung-chow, a 
town twelve miles from Peking, Sir Harry Parkes and Mr. Loch, 
accompanied by an escort and some few friends, went in advance 
of the army to make a preliminary convention. While so engaged 
they were treacherously taken prisoners and carried to Peking. 

This act precipitated an engagement in which the Chinese were 
completely routed, and the allies marched on to Peking. After 
the usual display of obstinacy the Chinese yielded to the demand 
for the surrender of the An-ting gate of the city. From this 
vantage point Lord Elgin opened negotiations, and having secured 
the release of Sir Harry Parkes and the other prisoners who had 
survived the tortures to which they had been subjected, and hav- 
ing burnt the summer palace of the emperor as a punishment for 
their treacherous capture and for the cruelties perpetrated on 
them, he concluded a treaty with Prince Kung, the representative 



PUNISHMENT FOR TREACHERY. 



89 



of the emperor. By this instrument the Chinese agreed to pay a 
war indemnity of 18,000,000 and to open six other ports in China, 
one in Formosa, and one in the island of Hainan to foreign trade, 
and to permit the representatives of the foreign governments to 
reside at Peking. 




GATE AT PEKING. 

Having thus relieved themselves from the presence of a foreign 
foe, the authorities were able to devote their attention to the 
suppression of the Tai-ping rebellion. Fortunately for them- 
selves, the apparent friendliness with which they greeted the 



90 CHINESE GORDON AND HIS WORK. 

arrival of the British legation at Peking enlisted for them the 
sympathies of Sir Frederic Bruce, the British minister, and in- 
clined him to listen to their request for the services of an Enghsh 
officer in their campaign against the rebels. At the request of 
Bruce, General Staveley selected Major Gordon, since generally 
knovv^n as Chinese Gordon, who was killed a few years ago at 
Khartoom, for this duty. A better man or one more peculiarly 
fit for the work could have been found. A numerous force 
known as " the ever victorious army," partly officered by foreign- 
ers, had for some time been commanded by an American named 
Ward and after his death by Burgevine, another American. Over 
this force Gordon was placed, and at the head of it he marched in 
conjunction with the Chinese generals against the Tai-pings. 
With masterly strategy he struck a succession of rapid and tell- 
ing blows against the fortunes of the rebels. City after city fell 
into his hands, and at length the leaders at Soochow opened the 
gates of the city to him on condition that he would spare their 
lives. With cruel treachery, when these men presented them- 
selves before Li Hung Chang to offer their submission to the em- 
peror, they were seized and beheaded. On learning how lightly 
his word had been treated by the Chinese general, Gordon armed 
himself, for the first time during the campaign with a revolver, 
and sought out the Chinese headquarters intending to avenge 
with his own hand this murder of the Tai-ping leaders. But Li 
Hung Chang having received timely notice of the righteous anger 
he had aroused took to flight, and Gordon, thus thwarted in his 
immediate object, threw up his command feeling that it was im- 
possible to continue to act with so orientally-minded a colleague. 

After considerable negotiation however, he was persuaded to 
return to his command and soon succeeded in so completely crip- 
pling the power of the rebels that in July 1864, Nanking, their 
last stronghold, fell into the hands of the imperialists. Teen- 
wang was then already dead, and his body was found within the 
walls wrapped in imperial yellow. Thus was crushed out a 
rebellion which had paralyzed the imperial power in the central 
provinces of the empire and which had for twelve years seriously 
threatened the existence of the reigning dynasty. 

Meanwhile in the summer following the conclusion of the 




OPIUM SMOKERS. 



MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH CATHOLICS. 93 

treaty of Peking, 1861, the emperor, Hien Feng, breathed his last 
at Jehol, an event which was in popuhir belief foretold by the 
appearance of a comet in the early part of the summer. He was 
succeeded to the throne by his only son, a mere child, and the off- 
spring of one of the imperial concubines. He adopted the name 
of Tung Chih. On account of his youth the administration of 
affairs was placed in the hands of the two dowager empresses, the 
wife of the last emperor and the mother of tlie new one. These 
regents were aided by the counsels of the boy emperor's uncle. 
Prince Kung. 

Under the direction of these regents, though the internal 
affairs of the empire prospered, the foreign relations were dis- 
turbed by the display of an increasingly hostile spirit towards 
the Christian missionaries and their converts, wliich culminated 
in 1870 in the Tien-tsin massacre. In some of the central prov- 
inces reports had been industriously circulated that the Roman 
Catholic missionaries were in the habit of kidnapping and mur- 
dering children, in order to make medicine from their eyeballs. 
Ridiculous as the rumor was, it found ready credence among the 
ignorant people, and several outrages were perpetrated on the 
missionaries and their converts in Kwang-hsi and Szechwan. 
Through the active interference, however, of the French min- 
ister on the spot, the agitation was locally suppressed only to be 
renewed at Tien-tsin. Here also the same absurd rumors were 
set afloat, and were especially directed against some sisters of 
charity who had opened an orphanage in the city. 

For some days previous to the massacre on the 21st of June, 
reports increasing in alarm reached the foreign residents that an 
outbreak was to be apprehended, and three times the English 
consul wrote to Chung How, the superintendent of the three 
northern ports, calling upon him to take measures to subdue the 
gathering passions of the people which had been further danger- 
ously exasperated by an infamous proclamation issued by the 
prefects. To these communications the consul did not receive 
any reply, and on the morning of the 21st, a day which had ap- 
parently been deliberately fixed for the massacre, the attack was 
made. The mob first broke into the French consulate and while 
the consul, M. Fontanier, was with Chung How endeavoring to 



94 PUNISHMENT OF THE MURDERERS. 

persuade him to interfere, two Frenchmen and their wives, and 
Father Chevrien were there murdered. While returning the 
consul suffered the same fate. Having thus whetted their taste 
for blood, the rioters then set fire to the French cathedral, and 
afterward moved on to the orphanage of the sisters of mercy. 
In spite of the appeals of these defenseless women for mercy, if 
not for themselves at least for the orphans under their charge, 
the mob broke into the hospital, killed and mutilated most shock- 
ingly all the sisters, smothered from thirty to forty children in 
the vault, and carried off a still larger number of older persons 
to prisons in the city, where they were subjected to tortures of 
which they bore terrible evidence when their release was at 
length affected. In addition to these victims, a Russian gentle- 
man with his bride, and a friend, who were unfortunate enough 
to meet the rioters on their way to the cathedral, were also mur- 
dered. No other foreigners were injured, a circumstance due to 
the fact that the fury of the mob was primarily directed against 
the French Roman Catholics, and also that the foreign settle- 
ment where all but those engaged in missionary work resided, 
was at a distance of a couple of miles from the city. 

When the evil was done, the Chinese authorities professed 
themselves anxious to make reparation, and Chung How was 
eventually sent to Paris to offer the apologies of the Peking cab- 
inet to the French government. These were ultimately accepted ; 
and it was further arranged that the Tien-tsin prefect and district 
magistrate should be removed from their posts and degraded, and 
that twenty of the active murderers should be executed. By 
these retributive measures the emperor's government made its 
peace with the European powers, and the foreign relations again 
assumed their former friendly footing. 

The Chinese had now leisure to devote their efforts to the sub- 
jugation of the Panthay rebels. This was a great Mohammedan 
uprising which dated back as far as 1856 and which had for its 
object the separation of the province of Yun-nan into an inde- 
pendent state. The visit of tlie adopted son of the rebel leader, 
the sultan Suleiman, to England, for the purpose of attempting 
to enlist the sympathies of the English government in the Pan- 
thay cause, no doubt added zest to the action of the mandarins, 



EMPEROR RECEIVES THE MINISTERS. 95 

who after a short but vigorous campaign, marked by scenes of 
bloodshed and wholesale carnage, suppressed the rebellion and 
restored the province to the imperial sway. 

Peace was thus brought about, and when the empresses handed 
over the reigns of power to the emperor, on the occasion of his 
marriage in 1872, tranquility reigned throughout the eighteen 
provinces. The formal assumption of power proclaimed by this 
marriage was considered by the foreign ministers a fitting oppor- 
tunity to insist on the fulfillment of the article in the treaties 
which provided for their reception by the emperor, and after 
much negotiation it was finally arranged that the emperor should 
receive them on the 29th of June, 1873. 

Very early therefore on the morning of that day, the ministers 
were astir and were conducted in their sedan chairs to the park 
on the west side of the palace, where thej- were met by some of 
the ministers of state, who led them to the " Temple of Prayer 
for Seasonable Weather." Here they were kept Avaiting for 
some time while tea and confectionery from the imperial kitchen, 
by favor of the emperor, were served to them. They were then 
conducted to an oblong tent made of matting on the west side 
of the Tsze-kwang pavilion, where they were met by Prince 
Kung and other ministers. As soon as the emperor reached the 
pavilion, the Japanese ambassador was introduced into his pres- 
ence and when he had retired the other foreign ministers entered 
the audience chamber in a body. The emperor was seated facing 
southward. On either side of his majesty stood, with Prince 
Kung, several princes and high officers. When the foreign min- 
isters reached the center aisle they halted and bowed one and all 
together ; they then advanced in line a little further and made a 
second bow ; and when they had nearly reached the yellow table 
on which their credentials were to be deposited they bowed a 
third time ; after which they remained erect. M. Vlangaly, the 
Russian minister, then read a congratulatory address in French, 
which was translated by an interpreter into Chinese, and the 
ministers making another reverence respectfully laid their letters 
of credence upon the yellow table. The emperor was pleased to 
make a slight inclination of the head towards them, and Prince 
Kung advancing to the left of the throne and falling upon his 



96 CEREMONIES OF THE RECEPTION. 

knees, had the honor to be informed in Manchoo that his majesty 
acknowledged the receipt of the letters presented. Prince Kiing, 
with his arms raised according to precedent set by Confucius 
when in the presence of his sovereign, came down by the steps ou 
the left of the desk, to the foreign ministers, and respectfully re- 
peated this in Chinese. After this he again prostrated himself, 
and in like manner received and conveyed a message to the effect 
that his majesty hoped that all foreign questions would be satis- 
factorily disposed of. The ministers then withdrew, bowing 
repeatedly, until they reached the entrance. 

Thus ended the first instance during the present century of 
Europeans being received in imperial audience. Whether under 
more fortunate circumstances the ceremony might have been re- 
peated it is difficult to say, but in the following year the young- 
emperor was stricken down with the small-pox, or " enjoyed the 
felicity of the heavenly flowers," and finally succumbed to the 
disease on the twelfth of January, 1875. With great ceremony 
the funeral obsequies were performed over the body of him who 
had been Tung Chih, and the coffin was finally laid in the imperial 
mausoleum among the eastern hills beside the remains of his pred- 
ecessors. His demise was shortly afterwards followed by the 
death of the girl empress he had just previously raised to the 
throne. 

For the first time in the annals of the Ching dynasty, the 
throne was now left without a direct heir. As it is the office of 
the son and heir to perform regularly the ancestral worship, it is 
necessary that if there should be no son, the heir should be, if 
possible, of a later generation than the deceased. In the present 
instance this was impossible, and it was necessary therefore that 
the lot should fall on one of the cousins of the late emperor. 
Tsaiteen, the son of the Prince of Chun, a child not quite four 
years old, was chosen to fill the vacant throne, and the title con- 
ferred upon him was Kuang Su or "an inheritance of glory." 

Scarcely had the proclamation gone forth of the assumption of 
the imperial title by Kuang Su, when news reached the English 
legation at Peking of the murder at Manwyne, in the province of 
Yun-nan, of Mr. Margary, an officer in the consular service who 
had been dispatched to meet an expedition sent by the Indian 



MURDER OF AN ENGLISH EXPLORER. 97 

government, under the command of Colonel Horace Browne, to 
discover a route from Birmah into the south-western provinces 
of China. In accordance with conventional practice, the Chinese 
government, on being called to account for this outrage, attempted 
to lay it to the charge of brigands. But the evidence which Sir 
Thomas Wade was able to adduce proved too strong to be ignored 
even by the Peking mandarins, and eventually they signed a con- 
vention in which they practically acknowledged their blood guilti- 
ness, under the terms of which some fresh commercial privileges 
were granted, and an indemnity was paid. 

At the same time a Chinese nobleman was sent to England to 
make apology, and to establish an embassy on a permanent footing 
at the court of St. James. Since that time the Chinese empire 
has been at peace with all foreign powers until the eruptions of 
the recent months. There have been some narrow escapes from 
war with the European countries holding possessions on the 
southern Chinese border, but serious results have not followed. 
Ministers have been maintained in China by the western nations, 
and by China in the western capitals. 

Under the child Kuang Su, who came to the throne in 1875, 
we have seen the completion of Chinese re-conquests in Central 
Asia and the restoration of Kuldja by the Russians. For many 
years the progressive party in the nation's councils, under the 
leadership of Li Hung Chang, Viceroy of Cliihli, gradually ap- 
peared to gain ground, amply posted as the court of Peking was 
in the affairs of western countries. Even the old conservative 
party, of which the successful and the aged general Tso Tsung- 
tang was the representative, has vastly modified its tone in the 
last twenty years. 

It is true that the short experimental line of railway which had 
been laid down between Shanghai and Wusung was objected to, 
and finally got rid of by the Chinese government ; but the reason 
for this apparently retrograde step arose out of the not very 
scrupulous means employed by the promoters of the scheme, and 
out of the very natural dislike of an independent state to be 
forced into innovations for which it may not be altogether pre- 
pared. Since that time several telegraph lines have been con- 
structed, beginning with the first one between Peking and 



98 CHINA'S SLOW PROGRESS. 

Shanghai, which formed the final connecting link between the 
capital of the Chinese empire and the western civilized world. 
The freedom of residence has been greatly extended to foreigners 
living in China. Travel has become safer, and popular hatred 
towards foreigners not as apparent. Slow as it has been to take 
effect, nevertheless the influence of closer association with western 
civilization has made its impress on the Chinese nation, and the 
extreme conservatism in many details has been compelled to 
waver. The stories of the war which are to follow will indicate 
much of the characteristics of the later day history of the empire. 



THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 



Origin of the Name of China, and Wliat the Cliiiiese Call their Own Country— Depend- 
encies of tlie Empire— China and the United States in Comparison— Their Many Physical 
Similarities— Mountains and Plains— Tlie Fertile Soil— Provinces of China— Rivers and 
Lakes— Climate— Fauna and Flora— Industries of the People— Commerce with Foreign 
Nations— The Cities of China— Forms of Government and Administration. 

Until recent years the word China was unknown in the empire 
which we call by that name, but of late it has become more 
familiar to the Chinese, and in certain regions they are in fact 
adopting it for their own use, owing to the frequency with which 
they hear it from the foreigners with whom they are doing busi- 
ness. The name was no doubt introduced in Europe and America 
from the nations of Central Asia who speak of the Chinese by 
various names derived from that of the powerful Ching family, 
who Jield sway many centuries ago. The names which the 
Chinese use in speaking of themselves are various. The most 
common one is Chung Kwo, the " Middle Kingdom." This term 
grew up in the feudal period as a name for the royal domain in 
the midst of the other states, or for those states as a wliole in the 
midst of the uncivilized countries around them. The assump- 
tion of universal sovereignty, of being the geographical center 
of the world, and also the center of light and civilization that 
have been so injurious to the nation, appear in several of the 
most ancient names. In the oldest classical writings the country 
is called the Flowery Kingdom, flowery presenting the idea of 
beautiful, cultivated, and refined. The terms Heavenly Flowery 
Kingdom, and Heavenly Dynasty are sometimes used, the word 
heavenly presenting the Chinese idea that the empire is estab- 
lished by the authority of heaven, and that the emperor rules by 
divine right. This title has given rise to the contemptuous 
epithet applied to the race by the Europeans, " The Celestials." 

The Chinese empire, consisting of China proper and Man- 
chooria, with its dependencies of Mongolia, I-li and Thibet, em- 
braces a vast territory in eastern and central Asia, only inferior 

(99) 



100 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 

in extent to the dominions of Great Britain and Russia. The 
dependencies are not colonies but subject territories ; and China 
proper itself indeed, has been a subject territory of Manchooria 
since 1644. 

China proper was divided nearly two hundred years ago into 
eighteen provinces ; and since the recent separation of the island 
of Formosa from Fu-chien, and its constitution into an independ- 
ent province, we may say that it now consists of nineteen. 
These form one of the corners of the Asiatic continent, having 
the Pacific ocean on the south and east. They are somewhat in 
the shape of an irregular rectangle, and including the island of 
Hainan lie between 18 and 49 degrees north latitude and 98 and 
124 degrees east longitude. Their area is about two million 
square miles, while the whole empire has an area more than twice 
that large. 

In giving a correct general idea of China one cannot perhaps 
do better than to institute a comparison between it and the 
United States, to which it bears a striking resemblance. It occu- 
pies the same position in the eastern hemisphere that the United 
States does in the western. Its line of sea coast on the Pacific 
resembles that of the United States on the Atlantic, not only in 
length but also in contour. Being found within almost the same 
parallels of latitude, it embraces almost the same variety of 
climate and production. A river as grand as the Mississippi, 
flowing east, divides the empire into nearly two equal parts, 
which are often designated as " north of the river " and " south 
of the river." It passes through an immense and fertile valley, 
and is supplied by numerous tributaries having rise in mountain 
ranges on either side and also in the Himalayas on the west. The 
area of China proper is about two-thirds that of the states of 
the American union. 

The resemblance holds also in the artificial divisions. While 
our country is divided into more than forty states, China is 
divided into nineteen provinces. As our states are divided into 
counties, so each province has divisions called fu and each fu is 
again divided into about an equal number of hien. These divis- 
ions and subdivisions of the provinces are generally spoken of in 
English as departments or prefectures, and districts, but they are 




CHINESE MINERS. 



CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES. 103 

much larger than our corresponding counties and townships. 
And similarly to our own system of government, each of these 
divisions and subdivisions has its own capital or seat of civil 
power, in which the officers exercising jurisdiction over it reside. 
The outer dependencies of the Chinese empire are comparatively 
sparsely populated, and in this work, when China, without spec- 
ification, is mentioned, it is intended to refer to the eighteen 
provinces exclusively, which include the vast proportion of the 
population, intelligence and wealth of the empire. 

As to the physical features of China proper, the whole terri- 
tory may be described as sloping from the mountainous regions 
of Thibet and Nepaul towards the shores of the Pacific on the 
east and south. A far extending spur of the Himalayas called 
the Nanling, or southern range, is the most extensive mountain 
system. It commences in Yun-nan, and passing completely 
tlirough the country enters the sea at Ningpo. Except for a few 
steep passes, it thus forms a continuous barrier that separates the 
coast regions of south-eastern China from the rest of the country. 
Numerous spurs are cast off to the south and east of it, which 
appear in the sea as a belt of rugged islands. On the borders of 
Thibet to the north and west of this range, the country is mount- 
ainous, while to the east and from the great wall on the north to 
the Po-yang Lake in the south, there is the great plain comprising 
an area of more than two hundred thousand square miles and 
supporting in the five provinces contained in it more than one 
hundred and seventy-five million people. 

In the north-western provinces the soil is a brownish colored 
earth, extremely porous, crumbling easily between the fingers, 
and carried far and wide in clouds of dust. It covers the sub-soil 
to an enormous depth and is apt to split perpendicularly in clefts 
which render traveling difficult. Nevertheless by this cleavage 
it affords homes to thousands of the people, who live in caves ex- 
cavated near the bottom of the cliffs. Sometimes whole villages 
are so formed in terraces of the earth that rise one above another. 
The most valuable quality of this peculiar soil is its marvelous 
fertility, as the fields composed of it require scarcely any othei- 
dressing than a sprinkling of its own fresh loam. The farmer in 
this way obtains an assured harvest two and even three times a 



104 MOUNTAINS, PLAINS AND PROVINCES. 

year. This fertility, provided there be a sufficient rainfall, seems 
inexhaustible. The province of Shan-hsi has borne the name for 
thousands of years of the " granary of the nation," and it is, no 
doubt, due to the distribution of this earth over its surface, that 
the great plain owes its fruitfulness. 

Geographically speaking the arrangement of the provinces of 
China is as follows: On the north there are four provinces, 
Chihli, Shan-hsi, Shen-hsi, and Kan-su; on the west two, Sze- 
chwan, the largest of all, and Yun-nan ; on the south two, 
Kwang-hsi and Kwang-tung ; on the east four, Fu-chien, Cheh- 
chiang, Chiang-su, and Shantung. The central area enclosed by 
these twelve provinces is occupied by Honan, An-hui, Hoopih, 
Hunan, Chiang-hsi, and Kwei-chau. The latter is a poor prov- 
ince, with parts of it largely occupied by clans or tribes supposed 
to be the aborigines. The island of Formosa, lying off the coast 
of Fu-chien, ninety miles west of Amoy, is about two hundred 
and thirty-five miles in length, fertile and rich in coal, petroleum, 
and camphor wood. The first settlement of a Chinese population 
took place only in 1683, and the greater part of it is still occupied 
by aboriginal tribes of a more than ordinary high type. The 
population of these provinces is immense, but the various esti- 
mates and alleged censuses fluctuate and vary so much that it is 
impossible to give a definite number as the total. It is a safe 
estimate however to say that the population of the Chinese empire 
approximates four hundred million, or considerably more than 
one-fourth the population of the world, and nearly as much as the 
total of all Europe and America. 

One of the most distinguishing features of China is found in 
the great rivers. These are called for the most part "ho" in the 
north and "chiang" (kiang) in the south. Two of these are 
famous and conspicuous among the great rivers of the world, the 
Ho, Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, and the Chiang, generally mis- 
named the Yang-tsze. The sources of these two rivers are not 
far from one another. The Ho rises in the plain of Odontala, 
which is a region of springs and small lakes, and the Chiang from 
the mountains of Thibet only a few miles distant. The Ho pur- 
sues a tortuous course first to the east and north until it crosses 
the great wall into Mongolia. After flowing a long distance 



TWO GREAT RIVERS OF CHINA. 105 

northward of tLe Mougolian desert, to the northern limit of Shen- 
hsi, it then turns directly south for a distance of five hundred 
miles. A right angle turns its course again to the eastward and 
fii.ally north-eastward, when it flows into the Gulf of Pechili in 
the province of Shantung. The Chiang on the contrary turns 
south where the Ho turns north, and then after a general course 
to the eastward and northward, roughly paralled with its fellow, 
flows into the Eastern Sea, not far from Shanghai. 

Both rivers are exceedingly tortuous and their courses are only 
roughly outliued here, .\lmost the very opening of Chinese 
history is an account of one of the inundations of the Ho River, 
which has often in course of time changed its channel. The 
terrible calamities caused by it so often have procured for it the 
name of " China's sorrow." As recently as 1887 it burst its 
southern bank near Chang Chau, and poured its mighty flood with 
hideous devastation, and the destruction of millions of lives, into 
tlie populous province of Honan. Each of these rivers has a 
course of more than three thousand miles. They are incompar- 
ably the greatest in China, but there are many others which 
would be accounted great elsewhere. In connection with inland 
navigation must be mentioned the Grand Canal, intended to con- 
nect the northern and southern parts of the empire by an easy 
water communication ; and this it did when it was in good order, 
extending from Peking to Hankow, a distance of more than six 
hundred miles. Kublai Khan, the first sovereign of the Yuan 
dynasty, must be credited with the glory of making this canal. 
Marco Polo described it, and compliments the great ruler for tlie 
success of his work. Steam communication all along the eastern 
seaboard from Canton to Tien-tsin has very much superseded the 
use of the canal and portions of it are now in bad condition, but 
as a truly imperial achievement it continues to be a grand memo- 
rial of Kublai. 

The Great Wall was another vast achievement of human 
labor, constructed more than two thousand years ago. It has 
been alleged a myth at some times, but its existence has not been 
denied since explorations have been made to the north of China 
Proper. It was not as useful as the canal, and it failed to answei 
tlie purpose for which it was intended, a defense against the in 
7 



106 CHINA'S WONDERFUL GREAT WALL. 

cursions of the northern tribes. In 214 B. C. the Emperor Che 
Hwang Ti determined to erect a grand barrier all along the 
northern limit of his vast empire. The wall commences at the 
Shan-hsi pass on the north coast of the Gulf of Pechili. From 
this point it is carried westward till it terminates at the Chia-yu 
barrier gate, the road through which leads to the " western re- 
gions." It is twice interrupted in its course by the Ho River, and 
has several branch and loop walls to defend certain cities and dis- 
tricts. Its length ill a straight line would be one thousand two 
hundred and fifty-five miles, but if measured along its sinuosities 
this distance must be increased to one thousand five hundred. It 
is not built so grandly in its western portions after passing the 
Ho River, nor should it be supposed that to the east of this point 
it is all solid masonry. It is formed by two strong retaining 
walls of brick rising from granite foundations, the space between 
being filled with stones and earth. The breadth of it at the base 
is about twenty-five feet, at the top fifteen feet, and the height 
varies from fifteen to thirty feet. The surface at the top was 
once covered with bricks but is now overgrown with grass. What 
travelers go to visit from Peking is merely a loop wall of later 
formation, enclosing portions of Chihli and Shan-hsi. 

China includes many lakes, but they are not so commanding in 
size as the rivers. There are but three which are essential to 
mention. These are the Tung-ting Hu, the largest, having a cir- 
cumference of two hundred and twenty miles, about in the center 
of the empire ; the Po-yang Hu, half way between the former 
and the sea ; and the Tai Hu, not far from Shanghai and the 
Yang-tsze River. The latter lake is famous for its romantic 
scenery and numerous islets. 

The peculiarities of climate along the Chinese coast are due 
in great measure to the northern and southern monsoons, the 
former prevailing with more or less uniformity during the winter, 
and the latter during the summer months. These winds give a 
greater degree of heat in summer and of cold in winter than is 
experienced in the United States in corresponding latitudes. At 
Ningpo, situated in latitude 30, about that of New Orleans, large 
quantities of ice are secured in the winter for summer use. It is, 
however, very thin measured by what we think proper ice for 



CLIMATE OF CHmA. 107 

perservatiou. In this part of China snow not infrequently falls 
to the depth of six or eight inches, and the hills are sometimes 
covered with it for weeks in succession. In the northern prov- 
inces the winters are very severe. In the vicinity of Peking, not 
only are the canals and rivers closed during the winter, but all 
commerce by sea is suspended during two or three months, while 
in the summer that part of China is very warm. The period of 
the change of the monsoon, when the two opposite currents are 
struggling with each other is marked by a great fall of rain and 
by the cyclones which are so much dreaded by mariners on the 
Chinese coast. The southern monsoon gradually loses its force 
in passing northward, and is not very marked above latitude 32, 
thougli its influence is decidedly felt in July and August. With 
the exception of the summer months the climate of the northern 
coast of China is remarkably dry ; that of the southern coast is 
damp most of the year, especially during the months of May, 
June, and July. 

In different parts of the country almost every variety of climate 
can be found, hot or cold, moist or dry, salubrious or malarial. 
The ports which were at first opened as places of residence for 
foreigners were unfortunately among the most unhealthful of the 
empire, not so much from the enervating effects of their southerly 
latitude as from their local miasmatic influences, being situated 
in the rice-producing districts and surrounded more or less by 
stagnant water during the summer months. Under the later 
treaties which opened new ports in the north, as well as interior 
cities, foreigners have been permitted to live in regions whose 
climates will compare favorably with most parts of our own 
country. The Chinese themselves consider Kwang-tung, Kwang- 
hsi, and Yun-nan to be less healthful than the other provinces ; 
but foreigners using proper precautions may enjoy their lives in 
every province. 

The Chinese are essentially an agricultural people, and from 
time immemorial they have held agriculture in the highest esteem 
as being the means by which the soil has been induced to supply 
the primary wants of the empire, food. Of course the climate 
and the nature of a district determine the kind of farming appro- 
priate to it. Agriculturally China may be said to be divided 



108 



WHERE FOREIGNERS LIVE. 



into two parts by the Chiang. South of that river, speaking 
generally, the soil and climate point to rice as the appropriate 
crop, while to the north lie vast plains which as clearly are best 
designed for growing wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn and other 
cereals. Culinary or kitchen herbs, mushrooms, and aquatic veg- 
etables, with ginger and a variety of other condiments, are every- 
where produced and widely used. From Formosa there comes 
sugar, and the cane thrives also in the southern provinces. 




CHINESE FARM SCENE, 



Oranges, pomegranates, peaches, plantains, pineapples, mangoes, 
grapes, and many other fruits and nuts are supplied in most 
markets. The cultivation of opium is constantly on the increase. 
Of course the use of tea as a beverage is a national characteris- 
tic. The plant does not grow in the north, but is cultivated ex- 
tensively in the western provinces and in the southern. The in- 
fusion of the leaves was little if at all drunk in ancient l/mes, but 
now its use is universal. Fu-chien, Hoopih, and Hu-nan produce 



110 ANIMALS WILD AND DOMESTIC. 

the greater part of the black teas ; the green comes chiefly from 
Cheh-chiangand An-hui ; both kinds comes from Kwang-tung and 
Sze-chwan. Next to silk, if not equally with it, tea is China's 
most valuable export. From rice and millet the Chinese distill 
alcoholic liquors, but they are very sparingly used and it is a com- 
pliment to the temperate inclinations of tlie people, that immedi- 
ately upon the opening of tea houses many years ago, the places 
for selling liquor found themselves empty of business and were 
soon compelled to close. 

Birds and animals are found in great variety, though the coun- 
try is too thickly peopled and well cultivated to harbor many 
wild and dangerous beasts. One occasionally hears of a tiger 
that has ventured from the forest and been killed or captured, but 
the lion was never a denizen of China and is only to be seen 
rampant in stone in front of temples. The rhinoceros, elephant, 
and tapir are said still to exist in the forests and swamps of Yun- 
nan ; but the supply of elephants at Peking for the carriage of 
the emperor when he proceeds to the great sacrificial altars has 
been decreasing for several reigns. Both the brown and the 
black bear are found, and several varieties of the deer family, of 
which the musk deer is highly valued. Among the domestic 
animals the breed of horses and cattle is dwarfish and no attempts 
seem to be made to improve them. The ass is a more lively 
animal in the north than it is in European countries or America, 
and receives much attention. About Peking one is struck by 
many beautiful specimens of the mule. Princes are seen riding 
on mules, or drawn by them in handsome litters, while their at- 
tendants accompany them on horseback. The camel is seen only 
in the north. Many birds of prey abound, including minos, 
crows, and magpies. The people are fond of songbirds, especially 
the thrush, the canary, and the lark. The lovelj^ gold and silver 
pheasants are well known, and also the mandarin duck, the em- 
blem to the Chinese of conjugal fidelity. Many geese too are 
reared and eaten, while the ducks are artificially hatched. The 
number of pigs is enormous and fish are a plentiful supply of 
food. 

The people are very fond of flowers and are excellent gardeners, 
but their favorites are mostly cultivated in pots instead of in beds. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



11 ; 



Silk, linen, and cotton furnish abundant provision for the 
clothing of the race. China was no doubt the original home of 
silk. The mulberry tree grows everywhere and silk worms 
flourish as widely. In all provinces some silk is produced, but 
the best is furnished from Kwang-tung, Sze-chwan, and Cheh- 
chiang. From the twenty-third century B. C. and earlier, the 
care of the silk worm and the spinning and weaving of its produce 
have been the special work of women. As it is the duty of the 
sovereign to turn over a few furrows in the spring to stimulate 
the people to their agricultural tasks, so his consort should per- 







CHINESE FARMER. 



form an analogous ceremony with her silk worms and mulberry 
trees. The manufactures of silk are not inferior to or less brill- 
iant than any that are produced in Europe, and nothing can ex- 
ceed the embroidery of the Chinese. The cotton plant appears to 
have been introduced some eight hundred years ago from Eastern 
Turkestan and is now cultivated most extensively in the basin of 
the Chiang River. The well known nankeen is named for Nan- 
king, a center for its manufacture. Of woolen fabrics the pro- 
duction is not large, but there are felt caps, rugs of camels hair 
and furs of various kinds. 



114 MINERAL RESOURCES. 

While the Chinese have done justice to most of the natural 
capabilities of their country, they have greatly failed in develop- 
ing its mineral resources. The skill which their lapidaries display 
in cutting the minerals and jevi^els is well known, but in the 
development of the utilitarian minerals they have been very 
negligent. The coal fields of China are enormous, but the major- 
ity of them can hardly be said to be more than scratched. Im- 
mense deposits of iron ore are still untouched. Copper, lead, tin, 
silver, and gold are known to exist in many places, but little has 
been done to make the stores of them available. More attention 
has been directed to their mines since their government and com- 
panies began to have steamers of their own and a scheme has been 
approved by the government for working the gold mines in the 
valley of the Amoor River. With the government once conscious 
of its mineral wealth, there is no limit to the results which it may 
bring about. 

The commerce of China with the western nations has been con- 
stantly on the increase for many years. The number of vessels 
entering and clearing at the various treaty ports is now between 
thirty thousand and thirty-five thousand annually, and the value 
of the whole trade, import and export, approximates $300,000,000 
annually. Of course the two principal exports are tea and silk. 
About half of the trade is done by means of vessels under the 
British flag, and nearly half of the remainder are vessels of 
foreign type, but owned by Chinese and sailing under the Chinese 
flag. 

The capitals of the different divisions of the empire are all 
walled cities, and these form a striking feature of the country. 
There are important distinctions between the cities of the third 
class, most of which are designated as hien, a few as cheo and 
others as ting. Though varying considerably in size, these differ- 
ent cities present neai-ly the uniform appearance. They are sur- 
rounded by walls from twenty to thirty-five feet in height, and 
are entered by large arched gateways which open into the 
principal streets and are shut and barred at night. These walls 
are from twenty to twenty-five feet thick at the base and some- 
what narrower at the top. The outside is of solid masonry from 
two to four feet thick, built of hewn stone, or bricks backed with 



THE CITIES OF CHINA. 115 

earth, broken tiles, etc. There is generally a lighter stone facing 
on the inside. The outside is surmounted by a parapet with em- 
brasures generally built of brick. 

The circumferences of the provincial cities vary from eight to 
fifteen miles; those of the fu cities from four to ten miles, and 
those of the hien cities from two or three to five miles. Some of 
the larger and more important cities contain a smaller one, with 
its separate walls, enclosed within the larger outside walls. This 
is the Tartar or military city. It is occupied exclusively by 
Tartars with their families, forming a colony or garrison, and 
numbering generally several thousand soldiers. In times of in- 
surrection and rebellion the emperor depends principally upon 
these Tartar colonies to hold possession of the cities where they 
are stationed. In such emergencies the inhabitants of these en- 
closed Tartar cities, knowing that their lives and the lives of their 
families are at stake, defend themselves with great desperation. 

The provincial capitals contain an average population of nearly 
one million inhabitants ; the fu cities from one hundred thousand 
to six hundred thousand or even more, while the cities of the 
third class, which are much more numerous, generally contain 
several tens of thousands. The most of these towns of different 
classes have outgrown their walls, and frequently one-fourth or 
even one-third of the inhabitants live in the suburbs, which in 
some oases extend three or four miles outside the walls in differ- 
ent directions. Property is less valuable in these suburbs, not 
only because it is removed from the business parts of the city, 
but also because it is more liable to be destroyed in times of re- 
bellion. All the names to be found on even our largest maps of 
China, are the names of walled cities, and many of those of the 
third class are not down for want of space. The total number 
of these cities is more than one thousand seven hundred. From 
the number and size of the cities of China it might be inferred 
that they contain the greater portion of the inhabitants of the 
empire. This is however by no means the case. The Chinese 
are mainly an agricultural people and live for the most part in 
the almost innumerable villages which everywhere dot its fertile 
plains. A detached or isolated farm house is seldom seen. The 
country people live in towns or hamlets for the sake of society 



116 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE VILLAGES. 

and mutual protection. Most of the cities, even the smaller 
ones, have thousands of these villages under their jurisdiction. 
In the more populous parts of China will frequently be found, 
within a radius of three or four miles, from one hundred and fifty 
to two hundred of tliese villages. 

The estimate of population made on a previous page gives an 
average population of about three hundred persons to the square 
mile, while that of Belgium and some other European countries 
is greater. Perhaps no country in the world is more fertile and 
capable of supporting a dense population than China. Every 
available spot of ground is brought under cultivation, and nearly 
all the land is made use of to provide food for man, pasture fields 
being almost unknown. The masses of China eat very little 
animal food, and what they do eat is mostly pork and fowls, the 
raising of which requires little or no waste of ground. The 
comparatively few horses and cattle and sheep which are found 
in the country are kept in stables, or graze upon the hill tops, or 
are tethered by the sides of canals. Taking these facts into con- 
sideration, that an extended and exceedingly fertile country un- 
der the highest state of cultivation, is taxed to its utmost ca- 
pacity to supply the wants of a frugal and industrious people, the 
estimate of population need not excite incredulity. 

Nearly all of the cities marked on our maps of the coast of 
China, are now open ports for traffic and residence of foreigners 
The most northerly of these is Niuchwang and the most south- 
ern Pak-hoi, while between these familiar names are those of 
Canton, Swatow, Amoy,-Foochow, ]SIing[)0, Shanghai, Tien-tsin 
and several others. Interior cities that have been opened to 
foreigners include a number on the Chiang River, the one farthest 
inland being I-chang. Peking is also accessible to foreigners ; 
and several ports on the islands of Hainan and Formosa are 
opened by treaty. The population of these cities cannot be told 
with much exactness, as the Chinese census can scarcely claim 
accuracy. But the largest cities, such as Canton and Peking, are 
generally credited, in common with several others even smaller, 
with passing the million mark. 

The Chinese government is one of the great wonders of history. 
It presents to-day the same character which it possessed more 



118 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 

than three thousand years ago, and which it has retained ever 
since, during a period which covers the authentic history of the 
world. The government may be described as being in theory a 
patriarchal despotism. The emperor is the father of his people, 
and just as in a family the father's law is supreme, so the emperor 
exercises complete control over his subjects, even to the extent of 
holding, under certain recognized conditions, their lives in his 
hands. But from time immemorial it has been held by the high- 
est constitutional authorities that the duties existing between the 
emperor and his people are reciprocal, and that though it is the 
duty of the people to render a loyal and willing obedience to the 
emperor, so long as his rule is just and beneficent, it is equally 
incumbent upon them to resist his authority, to depose him, and 
even to put him to death, in case he should desert the paths of 
rectitude and virtue. 

As a matter of fact however, it is very difficult to say what ex- 
tent of power the emperor actually wields. The outside world 
sees only the imperial bolts, but how they are forged or whose is 
the hand that shoots them none can tell. The most common 
titles of the emperor are Hwang-Shang, " The August Lofty 
One," and Tien-Tsz, " The Son of Heaven." He lives in unap- 
proachable grandeur, and is never seen except by members of his 
own family and high state officers, save once a year when he gives 
audience to few foreign diplomats. Nothing is omitted which 
can add to the dignity and sacredness of his person or character. 
Almost everything used by him or in his service is tabooed from 
the common people, and distinguished by some peculiar mark or 
color so as to keep up the impression of awe with which he is re- 
garded, and which is so powerful an auxiliary to his throne. The 
outward gate of the palace must always be passed on foot, and the 
paved entrance walk leading up to it can be used only by him. 
The vacant throne, or even a screen of yellow silk thrown over a 
chair, is worshipped equally with his actual presence, and an im- 
perial dispatch is received in the provinces with incense and pros- 
tration. 

The throne is not strictly and necessarily hereditary, though 
the son of the emperor generally succeeds to it. The emperor 
appoints his successor, but it is supposed that in doing so he will 






^^M^' 




,:t|,N^. 



120 POSITION OF THE EMPEROR. 

have supreme regard for the best good of his subjects, and will be 
governed by the will of heaven, indicated by the conferring of 
regal gifts, and by providential circumstances pointing out the in- 
dividual whom heaven has chosen. Of course in the case of un- 
usually able men, such as the second and fourth r»ulers of the 
present dynasty, their influence is more felt than that of less 
energetic rulers ; but the throne of China is so hedged in with 
ceremonials and so padded with official etiquette that unless its 
occupant be a man of supreme ability he cannot fail to fall under 
the guidance of his ministers and favorites. In governing so 
large a realm, of course it is necessary for the emperor to delegate 
his authority to numerous officers who are regarded as his agents 
and representatives in carrying out the imperial will. What they 
do tlie emperor does through them. The recognized patriarchal 
character of the government is seen in the familiar expressions of 
the people, particularly at times when they consider themselves 
injured or aggrieved by their officers, when they are apt to say, 
"•A strange way for parents to treat their children." 

The government of the empire, omitting the regulation of the 
imperial court and family, or the special Manchoo department, is 
conducted from the capital, supervising, directing, controlling the 
different provincial administrations, and exercising the power of 
removing from his post any official whose conduct may be irregular 
or dangerous to the state. 

There is the Grand Cabinet, the privy council of the emperor, 
in whose presence it meets daily to transact the business of the 
state, between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 A. M. Its members are 
few and hold other offices. There is also the Grand Secretariat, 
formerly the supreme council, but under the present dynasty very 
much superseded by the Cabinet. It consists of four grand and 
two assistant grand secretaries, half of them Manchoos and half 
Chinese. The business on which the Cabinet deliberates comes 
before it from the six boards or Luh-pu. These are departments 
of long standing in the government, having been modeled on 
much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head 
of each board are two presidents, called Shang-shu, and four vice- 
presidents called Shi-lang, alternately a Manchoo and a Chinese. 
There are three subordinate grades of officers in each board, 



GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCES. 123 

with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate de- 
partments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar 
business coming under the cognizance of the board, the whole 
being arranged in the most business-like style. 

The six boards are respectively of Civil Office, of Revenue, of 
Ceremonies, of War, of Punishments, and of Works. In 1861 
the changed relations between the empire and foreign nations led 
to the formation of what may be called a swenth board styled 
the Tsung-li Yamen, or Court of Foreign Affairs. There is also 
another important department which must be mentioned, the 
censorate, members of which exercise a supervision over the 
board, and are entrusted with the duty of exposing errors and 
crimes in every department of government. Distributed through 
the provinces they memorialize the emperor on all subjects con- 
nected with the welfare of the people and the conduct of the 
government. Sometimes they do not shrink even from the dan- 
gerous task of criticising the conduct of the emperor himself. 

The different boards are all charged with the superintendence 
of the affairs of the eighteen provinces into which the empire is 
divided. Fifteen of these provinces are grouped into eight vice- 
royalties, and the remaining three are administered by a governor. 
Each province is autonomous, or nearly so, and the supreme 
authorities, whether viceroys or governors, are practically inde- 
pendent so long as they act in accordance with the very minute 
regulations laid down for their guidance. The principal function 
of the Peking government is to see that these regulations are 
carried out, and in case they should not be to call the offending 
viceroy or governor to account. Below the governor-general or 
governor of a province, are the lieutenant-governor, commonly 
called the treasurer, the provincial judge, the salt-comptroller, 
and the grain-intendant. The provinces are further divided for 
the purposes of administration into prefectures, departments, and 
districts. Each has its officers, magistrates, and a whole host of 
petty underlings. The rank of the different officials in these 
provinces is indicated by a knob or button on the top of their 
caps. In the two highest it is made of red coral ; in the third it 
is clear blue ; in the fourth it is lapis lazuli ; in the fifth of crys- 
tal ; in the sixth of an opaque white stone ; and in the three 



124 EXTORTION OF THE OFFICIALS. 

lowest it is yellow, of gold or gilt. They also wear insignia or 
badges embroidered on a square patch in the front or back of 
their robes, representing birds on the civilians and animals on the 
military officers. 

Each viceroy raises his own army and navy, which he pays, or 
sometimes unfortunately does not pay, out of the revenues of the 
government. He levies his own taxes, and except in particular 
cases is the final court of appeal in all judicial matters within 
the limits of his rule. But in return for this latitude allowed 
him, he is lield personally responsible for the good government 
of his territory. If by any chance serious disturbances break 
out and continue unsuppressed, he is called to account, as having 
by his misconduct contributed to them, and he in his turn looks 
to his subordinates to maintain order and execute justice within 
their jurisdicti(jn. Of himself he has no power to remove or 
punish subordinate officials, but has to refer all complaints against 
them to Peking. The personal responsibility resting upon him 
of maintaining order makes him a severe critic on those who 
serve under him, and very frequently junior officials are im- 
peached and punished at the instigation of their chief. Incapable 
and unworthy officials, constant opium smokers, those who mis- 
appropriate public money, and those who fail to arrest criminals, 
are those who meet swift punishment. On the whole the con- 
duct of junior officials is carefully watched. 

As has been already said, the affairs of each province are ad- 
ministered by the viceroy, or governor, and his subordinates, and 
speaking generally their rule is as enlightened and as just as 
could be expected in an oriental country where public opinion 
finds only a very imperfect utterance. Official purity and justice 
must be treated as comparative terms in China. The constitu- 
tion of the civil service renders it next to impossible that any 
office holder can be clean-handed. The salaries awarded are low, 
out of all proportion to the necessary expenses pertaining to the 
offices to which they are apportioned, and the consequence is that 
in some way or other the officials are compelled to make up the 
deficiency from the pockets of those subject to them. As a rule, 
mandarins seldom enter office with private fortunes, and the 
wealth therefore, which soothes the declining years of veteran 



126 



EXTORTION OF THE OFFICIALS. 



officials, may be fairly assumed to be ill-gotten gain. There are 
laws against these exactions, and very often some magistrate is 
degraded or executed for levying illegal assessments. The im- 
munity which some mandarins enjoy from the just consequences 
of their crimes, and the severity with which the law is vindicated 




THE GOVERNOR OF A PROVINCE. 



hi the cases of others for much lighter offenses, has a sinister as- 
pect. But in a system of which bribery and corruption practi- 
cally form a part, one need not expect to find purity in any direc- 
tion. And it is not too much to say that the whole civil service 
is, judged by an American standard, corrupt to the core. The 
people however are lightly taxed and they readily submit to lira- 



FEW MANDARINS ARE REGRETTED. 129 

ited extortion so long as the rule of the mandarin is otherwise 
just and beneficent. 

How rarely does a mandarin earn the respect and affection of 
the people is obvious from the great parade which is made on the 
departure from their posts of the very occasional officials who 
are fortunate enough to have done so. Archdeacon Gray relates 
that during his residence of a quarter of a century at Canton he 
only met one man who had entitled himself to the regret of the 
people at his departure. When the time came for this man to 
leave the city, the people rose in multitudes to do him honor and 
begged for him to return if he could. A somewhat similar scene 
occurred at Tien-tsin in 1861, on the departure of the most be- 
nevolent prefect that the city had ever seen. The people accom- 
panied him beyond the gate on his road to Peking with every 
token of honor and finally begged from him his boots, vrhich they 
carried back in triumph and hung up as a memento in the temple 
of the city god. Going to the opposite extreme, it sometimes 
happens that the people, goaded into rebellion by a sense of 
wrong, rise in arms against some particularly obnoxious man- 
darin and drive him from the district. But the Chinese are 
essentially unwarlike, and it must be some act of gross oppres- 
sion to stir their blood to fever heat. 

A potent means of protection against oppression is granted to 
the people by the appointment of imperial censors throughout 
the empire, whose duty it is to report to the throne all cases of 
misrule, injustice, or neglect on the part of the mandarins which 
come to their knowledge. The same tolerance which is shown 
by the people towards the shortcomings and ill deeds of the 
officials, is displayed by these men in the discharge of their 
duties. Only aggravated cases make them take their pens in 
hand, but when they do, it must be confessed that they show 
little mercy. Neither are they respectors of persons ; their lash 
falls alike on all from the emperor on his throne to the police- 
runners in magisterial courts. Nor is their plain speaking more 
amazing than the candor with which their memorials affecting 
the characters of great and small alike are published in the Pe- 
king Gazette. The gravest charges, such as of peculation, neg- 
lect of duty, injustice, or incompetence, are brought against 



130 



CRUELTIES IN THE COURTS. 



mandarins of all ranks and are openly published in the official 
paper. 

In the administration of justice the same lax morality as in 
other branches of government exists, and bribery is largely re- 
sorted to by litigants, more especially in civil cases. As a rule 
money in excess of the legal fees has in the first instance to be 
paid to clerks and secretaries before a case can be put down for 
hearing, and a decision of the presiding mandarin is too often in- 
fluenced by the sums of money which find their way into his 




PUNISH u 1 1 \ inr V i e 

purse from the pockets of either suitor. But the greatest blot on 
Chinese administration is the inhumanity shown to both culprits 
and witnesses in criminal procedure. Tortures of the most pain- 
ful and revolting kind are used to extort evidence, and punish- 
ments scarcely more severely cruel are inflicted on the guilty 
parties. Flogging with bamboos, beating the jaws with thick 
pieces of leather, or the ankles with a stick, are some of the pre- 
liminary tortures applied to witnesses or culprits who refuse to 
give the evidence exoected of them. Further refinements of 



HORRORS OF PUNISHMENT. 



131 



cruelty are reserved for hardened offenders hy means of which 
infinite pain and often permanent injury are inflicted. 

It follows as a natural consequence that in a country where 
torture is thus resorted to the punishments inflicted on criminals 
must be proportionately cruel. Death, the final punishment, can 
unfortunately be inflicted in various ways, and a sliding scale of 
capital punishments is used by the Chinese to mark their sense 
of the varying heinousness of murderous crimes. For parricide, 
matricide and wholesale murders, the usual sentence is that of 







FLOGGING A CULPRIT. 



Ling-che, or "ignominious and slow death." In the carrying out 
of this sentence the culprit is fastened to a cross, and cuts varying 
in number, at the discretion of the judge, from eight to one hun- 
dred and twenty are made first on the face and fleshy parts of the 
body, next the heart is pierced, and finally when death has been 
thus caused, the limbs are separated from the body and divided. 
During a recent year ten cases in which tliis punishment was in- 
flicted were reported in the official Peking Gazette. In ordinary 
cases of capital punishment execution by beheading is the com- 



132 HORRORS OF PUNISHMENT. 

mon mode. This is a speedy and merciful death, the skill gained 
by frequent experience enabling the executioner in almost every 
case to perform his task with one blow. Another death which is 
less horrible to Chinamen, who view any mutilation of the body 
as an extreme disgrace, is by strangulation. The privilege of so 
passing out of the world is accorded at times to influential crimi- 
nals, whose ci'imes are not of so heinous a nature as to demand their 
decapitation ; and occasionally they are even allowed to be their 
own executioners. 

Asiatics are almost invariably careless about the sufferings of 
others, and the men of China are no exception to the rule. It is 
almost impossible to exaggerate the horrors of a Chinese prison. 
The filth and dirt of the rooms, the brutality of the jailers, the 
miserable diet, and the entire absence of the commonest sanitary 
arrangements make a picture which is too horrible to draw in 
detail. 

Chinese law-givers have distinguished very markedly between 
crimes accompanied and unaccompanied with violence. For 
offenses of the latter description, punishments of a comparatively 
light nature are inflicted, such as wearing a wooden collar, and 
piercing the ears with arrows, to the ends of which are attached 
slips of paper on which are inscribed the crime of which the cul- 
prit has been guilty. Frequently the criminals bearing these 
signs of their disgrace are paraded up and down the street where 
their offense was committed, and sometimes in more serious cases 
they are flogged through the leading thoroughfares of the city, 
preceded by a herald who announces the nature of their mis- 
demeanors. But to give a list of Chinese punishments will be to 
exhaust the ingenuity of man to torture his fellow creatures. 
The subject is a horrible one and it is a relief to turn from the 
dingy prison gates and the halls of so-called justice. 

After this review of the impersonal, and the material, and the 
official character of the Chinese empire as a nation, let us now 
turn to the more personal consideration of the people themselves, 
their characteristics, and their manner of life and thought. 



THE CHINESE PEOPLE. 



Severity of the Judgment of Americans and Chinese Against One Anotlier— Each Sees 
the Worst Side ot the Other— Characteristics of the Cliinese, Their Physique, Temperament, 
and Morals— Tests of Intellectuality— Marriage Customs of the Chinese— Tlie Engagement— 
The Wedding Ceremony- The Position of Women— Concubinage— Divorce— Family Kelation- 
sliips— Dress of Men and Women— Distorted Feet versus Queues-Cliinese Houses and Home 
Life— Cliildren— Education and Scliools— National Festivities— Music and Art— Chinese 
Religions— Language and Literature. 

In treating of the personal characteristics and customs of the 
Chinese people it is the desire of the writer to get away from the 
hackneyed descriptions of pigtails, shaven heads, thick soled 
shoes, assumption of dignity and superiority, and great ignorance 
concerning many subjects with which we are familiar, which 
usually mark the pages of articles and books concerning this race. 
The Chinaman is believed by many to be the personification of 
stupidity, and many writers who wish to make readable matter 
gladly seize upon and exaggerate anything which can be made to 
appear grotesque and ridiculous. It would be but a poor answer 
to these views to say that they correspond remarkably with those 
which the Chinese entertain of us. They also enjoy a great deal 
of pleasantry at our expense, finding it almost impossible to re- 
gard otherwise than as ludicrous our short cropped hair, tight fit- 
ting, ungraceful, and uncomfortable looking clothes, men's thin 
soled leather shoes, tall stiff hats, gloves in summer time, the 
wasp-like appearance of ladies with their small waists, our remark- 
able ignorance of the general rules of propriety, and the strange 
custom of a man and his wife walking together in public ! These 
views we can afford to laugh at as relating to comparatively 
trivial matters, but they think they have the evidence that we 
are also inferior to them in intellectuality, in refinement, in civili- 
zation, and especially morals. It is evident that one party or the 
other has made a serious mistake, and it would be but a natural 
and reasonable presumption that both may have erred to some 
extent. We should look at this matter from an impartial stand- 
point, and take into view not simply facts which are compara- 

(135) 



136 CHINA VERSUS THE UNITED STATES. 

tively unimportant and exceptional, but those which are funda- 
mental and of widespread influence, and should construe these 
facts justly and generously. We should take pains not to form 
the judgment that because a people or a custom is different from 
our own it is therefore necessarily worse. 

There are many reasons why unfair judgments have been 
formed by us against the Chinese and by the Chinese against 
Europeans and Americans. Each nation is apt to see the worst 
side of the other. It so happens that the Chinese who have 
come to America are almost all from the southern provinces and 
from the lower classes of the worst part of the empire. We have 
formed many of our impressions from our observation of these 
low class adventurers. They on the other hand have not received 
the treatment here which would cause them to carry back to 
China kindly opinions of Americans. 

In China the same or similar conditions have existed. In the 
open ports, where a large foreign commerce has sprung up, an 
immense number of Chinese congregate from the interior. Many 
of them are adventurers who come to these places to engage in 
the general scramble for wealth. The Chinamen of the best class 
are, as a matter of fact, not the most numerous in the open ports. 
Moreover foreign ideas and customs prevail to a great extent in 
these foreign communities, and the natives, whatever they might 
have been originally, giadually become more or less denational- 
ized, and present a modified type of their race. The Cliinese be- 
ing every day brought into contact with drunken sailors and un- 
scrupulous traders from the west, new lessons are constantly 
learned from them in the school of duplicity and immorality. 
The Chinese of this class are no fitting type of the race. It is an 
accepted fact that the great seaports of the world, where inter- 
national trade holds sway, are the worst centers of vice, and no 
estimate of a people formed from these cities can be just. 

The Chinese as a race are of a phlegmatic and impassive tem- 
perament, and physically less active and energetic than European 
and American nations. Children are not fond of athletic and 
vigorous sports, but prefer marbles, kite flying, and quiet games 
of ball or spinning tops. Men take an easy stroll for recreation, 
but never a rapid walk for exercise and are seldom in a hurrv or 



RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHINESE. 137 

excited. They are also characteristically timid and docile. But 
while the Chinese are deficient in active courage and daring, they 
are not in passive resistance. They are comparatively apathetic 
as regards pain and death, and have great powers of physical en- 
durance as well as great persistency and obstinacy. Physical 
development and strength and longevity vary in different parts 
of the empire. In and about Canton, as well as in most parts of 
the south, from which we have derived most of our impressions 
of China, the people are small in stature ; but in the province of 
Shan-tung in the north, men varying in height from five feet 
eight inches to six feet are very common, while some of them are 
considerably taller. In this part of China too, one frequently 
finds laborers more than seventy years of age working daily at 
their trades, and it is not unusual to hear of persons who have 
reached the age of ninety or more. 

The intellectuality of the Chinese is made evident by so many 
obvious and weighty facts, that it seems strange that persons of 
ordinary intelligence and information should ever have ques- 
tioned it. We have before us a system of government and code 
of laws which will bear favorable comparison with those of 
European nations, and have elicited a generous tribute of admira- 
tion and praise from the most competent students. The practical 
wisdom and foresight of those who constructed this system are 
evidenced by the fact that it has stood the test of time, enduring 
longer than any other which man has devised during the world's 
history ; that it has bound together under one common rule, a 
population to which the world affords no parallel, and given a de- 
gree of prosperity and wealth which may well challenge our won- 
der. It is intelligent thought winch has given China such a 
prominence in the east and also in the eyes of Christendom. She 
may well point with pride to her authentic history reaching back 
through more than thirty centuries ; to her extensive literature, 
containing many works of sterling and permanent value ; to her 
thoroughly elaborated language possessed of a remarkable power 
of expression; to her list of scholars, and her proficiency in belles- 
lettres. If these do not constitute evidences of intellectuality, it 
would be difficult to say where such evidences could be found, or 
9 



138 LACK OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE. 

on what basis we ourselves will rest our claim of intellectual 
superiority. 

China has been so arrogant and extravagant in her assumptions 
of pre-eminence, that we have perhaps for this very reason been 
indisposed to accord to her the position to which she is fairly en- 
titled. It should be remembered, that ignorant until recently of 
western nations, as they have been of her, she has compared her- 
self simply with the nations around her, and a partial excuse for 
her overweening self conceit may be found in the fact that she 
only regarded herself as the nations with which she is acquainted 
have regarded her. She has been for ages the great center of 
light and civilization in eastern Asia. She has given literature 
and religion to Japan, to Corea, and to Manchooria, and has been 
looked up to by these and other smaller nations as their acknowl- 
edged teacher. The Japanese have produced no great teachers 
or sages which they would presume to compare with those of 
China; and it is clearest evidence of their acknowledgment of the 
literary superiority of the Chinese that they use Chinese classics 
as text books in their schools much as we do those of Greece and 
Rome. It is true that the Chinese know hardly anything of the 
modern arts and sciences and that there is no word in their lan- 
guage to designate some of them ; but how much did our ancestors 
know two hundred years ago of chemistry, geology, philosophy, 
anatomy, and other kindred sciences. What did we know fifty 
years ago of the steamboat, the railroad, and the telegraph ? And 
is our comparative want of knowledge a few years ago and that 
of our ancestors to be taken as evidence of inferiority of race and 
intellect? Furthermore, if we go back a few hundred years we 
are apt to find many things to establish the claims of the Chinese 
as a superior rather than inferior race. There are excellent 
grounds to credit the Chinese with the invention or discovery of 
printing, the use of the magnetic needle, the manufacture and use 
of gunpowder, of silk fabrics, and of ehinaware and porcelain, and 
there seems no doubt that the Chinese discovered America from 
the westward, long before the discoveries of Europeans. 

Intellectual power manifests itself in a variety of ways, and 
glaring defects are often found associated in the same individual 
with remarkable powers and capabilities, as particular faculties 



MORALITY OF THE CHINESE. 139 

both of mind and body are often cultivated and developed at the 
expense of others. Chinese education has very little regard to 
the improvement of the reasoning powers, and Chinese scholars 
are deficient in logical acumen and very inferior to the Hindoos 
in this respect; but in developing and storing the memory they 
are without a rival. Again their system of training effectually 
discourages and precludes freedom and originality of thought, 
while it has the compensating advantages of creating a love of 
method and order, habitual subjection to authority, and a remark- 
able uniformity in character and ideas. Perhaps the results 
which they have realized in fusing such a vast mass of beings 
into one homogeneous body, could have been reached in no other 
way. 

The morality of the Chinese presents another subject about 
which there is a wide difference of opinion. It may be a matter 
of interest and profit to turn for a moment to the views which 
the Chinese generally entertain of our morality, and their reasons 
for these views. They are all familiar with the fact that foreign- 
ers introduced opium into China, in opposition to the earnest and 
persistent remonstrances of the Chinese government ; that out of 
the opium trade grew the first war with China: and that when 
the representatives of Christian England urged the Chinese gov- 
ernment to legalize the trade and make it a source of revenue, 
the Chinese emperor replied that he would not use as a means of 
revenue that which brought suffering and misery upon his people. 

The Chinese form their opinions of western morality to a great 
extent from the sailors on shore-leave at the open ports, and 
these men are proverbially vicious under such circumstances. 
For years foreigners of this class have commanded many of the 
piratical fleets on the coasts of China, and foreign thieves and 
robbers have infested many of the inland canals and rivers. In 
business dealings with strangers from western lands the natives 
find that duplicity and dishonesty are not confined to their own 
people. Replying to our criticism of the system of concubinage, 
the Chinese point to the numerous class of native women in the 
foreign communities, fostered and patronized by foreigners alone, 
who appear in the streets with an effrontery which would be re- 
garded as utterly indecent and intolerable in most Chinese cities. 



140 TWO ENGLISH OPINIONS. 

The large importation from Europe of obscene pictures which are 
offered at every liancl, is another fact which the educated Chinese 
cites in answer to criticisms of his people's morality. 

On the general subject of morality and Chinese moral teach- 
ing, two quotations from the writings of eminent Englishmen 
who lived in China for many years are pertinent. Sir John 
Davis says: "The most commendable feature of the Chinese 
system is the general diffusion of elementary moral education 
among the lower orders. It is in the preference of moral to 
physical instruction that even we might perhaps wisely take a 
leaf out of the Chinese book, and do something to reform this 
most mechanical age of ours." The opinion of Thomas Taylor 
Meadows is thus expressed : " No people whether of ancient or 
modern times has possessed a sacred literature so completely ex- 
empt as the Chinese from licentious descriptions and from every 
offensive expression. There is not a single sentence in the whole 
of their sacred books and their annotations that may not when 
translated word for word be read aloud in any family in En- 
gland." 

It must be acknowledged that the Chinese give many evidences, 
not only in their literature, but also in their paintings and sculp- 
ture, of a scrupulous care to avoid all indecent and immoral asso- 
ciations and suggestions. In referring to the above peculiarity 
of Chinese views and customs, these remarks are not, of course, 
concerning the private lives and practices of the people, but of 
their standard of propriety and of what the public taste requires, 
in objects which are openly represented to be seen and admired 
by the young and old of both sexes. 

The government of the empire is modeled on the government 
of a household, and at the root of all family ties, says one of the 
Chinese classics, is the relation of husband and wife, which is as 
the relation of lieaven and earth. Chinese historians record that 
the rite of marriage was first instituted by the Emperor Fuh-he, 
who reigned in the twenty- eighth century B. C. But before 
this period there is abundant evidence to show that as amongst 
all other peoples the first form of marriage was by capture. At 
the present day marriage is probably more universal in Cliina 
than in any other civilized country in the world, for it is regarded 



PRELIMINARIES TO MARRIAGE. 141 

as something indispensable and few men pass the age of twenty 
without taking to themselves a wife. To die without leaving be- 
hind a son to perform the burial rites and to offer up the fixed 
periodical sacrifices at the tomb, is one of the most direful fates 
that can overtake a Chinaman, and he seeks to avoid it by an 
eai'ly marriage. 

Like every other rite in China that of marriage is fenced in 
with a host of ceremonies. In a vast majority of cases the bride- 
groom never sees his bride until the wedding night, it being con- 
sidered a grave breach of etiquette for young men and maidens 
to associate together or even to see one another. Of course it 
does occasionally happen that either by stealth or chance a pair 
become acquainted; but whether they have thus associated, or 
whether they are perfect strangers, the first formal overture must 
of necessity be made by a professional go-between, who having 
received a commission from the parents of a young man, proceeds 
to the house of the young woman and makes a formal proposal 
on behalf of the would-be bridegroom's parents. If the young 
lady's father approves the proposed alliance, the suitor sends the 
lady some presents as an earnest of his intentions. 

The parents next exchange documents which set forth the 
hour, day, month, and year when the young people were born, 
and the maiden names of their mothers. Astrologers are then 
called in to cast the horoscopes, and should these be favorable 
the engagement is formally entered into, but not so irrevocably 
that there are not several orthodox ways of breaking it off. But 
should things go smoothly, the bridegroom's father writes a 
formal letter of agreement to the lady's father, accompanied by 
presents, consisting in some cases of sweetmeats and a live pig, 
and in others of a goose and gander, which are regarded as em- 
blems of conjugal fidelity. Two large cards are also prepared 
by the bridegroom, and on these are written the particulars of 
the engagement. One is sent to the lady and the other he keeps. 
She in return now makes a present to the suitor according to his 
rank and fortune. Recourse is then again had to astrologers to 
fix a fortunate day for the final ceremony, on the evening of 
which the bridegroom's best man proceeds to the house of the 
lady and conducts her to her future home in a red sedan chair, 



142 DESCRIPTION OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY. 

accompanied by musicians who enliven the procession by wedding 
airs. At the door of the house the bride alights from her sedan, 
and is lifted over a pan of burning charcoal laid on the threshold 
by two "women of luck," whose husbands and children must be 
living. 

In the reception room the bridegroom awaits his bride on a 
raised dais, at the foot of which she humbly prostrates herself. 
He then descends to her level, and removing her veil gazes on her 
face for the first time. Without exchanging a word they seat 
themselves side by side, and each tries to sit on a part of the 
dress of the other, it being considered that the one who succeeds 
in so doing will hold rule in the household. This trial of skill 
over, the pair proceed to the hall, and there before the family 
altar worship heaven and earth and their ancestors. They then 
go to dinner in their apartment, through the open door of which 
the guests scrutinize and make their remarks on the appearance 
and demeanor of the bride. This ordeal is the more trying to 
her, since etiquette forbids her to eat anything, a prohibition 
which is not shared by the bridegroom, who enjoys the dainties 
provided as his appetite may suggest. The attendants next hand 
to each in turn a cup of wine, and having exchanged pledges, the 
wedding ceremonies come to an end. In some parts of the coun- 
try it is customary for the bride to sit up late into the night an- 
swering riddles which are propounded to her by the guests ; in 
other parts it is usual for her to show herself for a time in the 
hall, whither her husband does not accompany her, as it is con- 
trary to etiquette for a husband and wife ever to appear together 
in public. For the same reason she goes to pay the customary 
visit to her parents on the third day after the wedding alone, and 
for the rest of her wedded life she enjoys the society of her hus- 
band only in the privacy of her apartments. 

The lives of women in China, and especially of married women, 
are such as to justify the wish often expressed by them that in 
their next state of existence they may be born men. Even if in 
their baby days they escape the infanticidal tendencies of their 
parents, they are regarded as secondary considerations compared 
with their brothers. The philosophers from Confucius downward 
have all agreed in assigning them an inferior place to men. 



THE POSITION OF WOMEN. 145 

When the time comes for them to many, custom requires them 
in nine cases out of ten, as we have seen, to take a leap in the 
dark, and that wife is fortunate who finds in her Imsband a con 
genial and faithful companion. 

There is but one proper wife in the family, but there is no law 
against a man's having secondary wives or concubines ; and such 
connections are common enough wherever the means of a family 
are sufiScient for their support. The concubine occupies in tlie 
family an inferior position to the wife, and her children, if she 
has any, belong by law to the wife. 

There are seven legal grounds for divorcing a wife : disobedi- 
ence to her husband's parents ; not giving birth to a son ; Disso- 
lute conduct ; jealousy ; talkativeness ; thieving, and leprosy. 
These grounds however may be nullified by " the three considera- 
tions : " If her parents be dead; if she has passed with her hus- 
band through the years of mourning for his parents; and if he 
has become rich from being poor. 

So many are the disabilities of married women, that many girls 
prefer going into nunneries or even committing suicide to trust- 
ing their future to men of whom they can know nothing but from 
the interested reports of the go-between. 

The re-marriage of widows is regarded as an impropriety, and 
in wealthy families is seldom practiced. But among the poorer 
classes necessity often compels a widow to seek another bread 
winner. Some, however, having been unfortunate in their first 
matrimonial venture, refuse to listen to any proposal for a re-mar- 
riage, and like the young girls mentioned above seek escape by 
death from the importunities of relatives who desire to get them 
off their hands. A reverse view of matrimonial experiences is 
suggested by the practice of wives refusing to survive their hus- 
bandsj and putting a voluntary end to their existence rather than 
live to mourn their loss. Such devotion is regarded by the people 
with great approbation and a deed of suicide is generally per- 
formed in public and with great punctiliousness. 

The picture here given of married life in China has been nec- 
essarily darkly shaded, since it is, as a rule, only in its unfortu- 
nate phases, that it affords opportunity for remark. Without 
doubt there are many hundreds of thousands of families in China 



146 HOME LIFE OF WOMEN, 

which are entirely happy. Happiness is after all a relative term, 
and Chinese women, knowing no higher status, are as a rule con- 
tent to run the risk of wrongs which would be unendurable to an 
American woman, and to find happiness under conditions which 
are fortunately unknown in western countries. 

The family tie in China is strong and the people are clannish. 
They seldom change their place of residence and most of them 
live where their ancestors have lived for many generations. One 
will frequently find the larger portion of a small village bearing 
the same name, in which case the village often takes its name 
from the family. Books on filial piety and the domestic relations 
recommend sons not to leave their parents when married, but to 
live together lovingly and harmoniously as one family. This 
theory is carried out in practice to some extent, in most instances. 
In the division of property some regard is had to primogeniture, 
but different sons shave nearly equally. The eldest simply has a 
somewhat larger portion and certain household relics and valu- 
ables. 

The position of woman is intermediate between that which she 
occupies in Christian and in other non-Christian countries. The 
manner in which they regard their lot may be inferred from the 
fact related on a previous page, that the most earnest desire and 
prayer in worsiiipping in Buddhist temples is, generally, that they 
may be men in the next state of existence. In many families 
girls have no individual names, but are simply called No. One, 
Two, Three, Four, etc. When married they are Mr. So-and-so's 
wife, and when they have sons they are such-and-such a boy's 
mother. They live in a great measure secluded, take no part in 
general society, and are expected to retire when a stranger or an 
acquaintance of the opposite sex enters the house. The claim of 
one's parents and brothers upon his affections is considered to be 
paramount to that of his wife. A reason given for this doctrine 
in a celebrated Chinese work is that the loss of a brother is irrep- 
arable but that of a wife is not. Women are treated with more 
respect and consideration as they advance in years; mothers are 
regarded with great affection and tenderness, and grandmothers 
are sometimes almost worshipped. It must be further said that 
the Chinese have found the theory of inferiority of women a very 



STYLE OF MEN'S DRESS. 147 

diflScult one to carry out in practice. There are many families in 
which the superiority of her will and authority is sufficiently 
manifest, even though not cheerfully acknowledged. 

The rules and conventionalities which regulate social life are 
exceedingly minute and formal. Politeness is a science, and 
gracefulness of manners a study and discipline. The people are 
hospitable and generous to a fault, their desire to appear well in 
'ihese respects often leading them to expenditures entirely dis- 
proportionate to their means. 

When under the influence of passion, quarrels arise, the 
women resort to abuse iu violent language, extreme in proportion 
to the length of time during which the feelings which prompted 
them have been restrained. Men bluster and threaten in a man- 
ner quite frightful to those unaccustomed to it, but seldom come 
to blows. In cases of deep resentment the injured party often 
adopts a mode of revenge which is very characteristic. Instead 
of killing the object of his hate, he kills himself on the doorstep 
of his enemy, thereby casting obloquy and the stigma of murder 
on the adversary. 

In matters of dress, with one or two exceptions, the Chinese 
must be acknowledged to have used a wise discretion. They 
wear nothing that is tight fitting, and make a greater difference 
between their summer and winter clothing than is customary 
among ourselves. The usual dress of a coolie in summer is a 
loose fitting pair of cotton trousers and an equally loose jacket; 
but the same man in winter will be seen wearing quilted cotton 
clothes, or if he should be an inhabitant of the northern provinces 
a sheepskin robe, superadded to an abundance of warm clothing 
intermediate between it and his shirt. By the wealthier classes 
silk, satin, and gauze -are much worn in the summer, and woolen 
or handsome fur clothes in the winter. Among such people it is 
customary except in the seclusion of their homes, to wear both 
in summer and winter long tunics coming down to the ankles. 

In summer non-official Chinamen leave their heads uncovered, 
but do not seem to suffer any inconvenience from the great heat. 
On the approach of summer an edict is issued fixing the day 
upon which the summer costume is to be adopted throughout the 
empire, and again as winter draws near, the time for putting on 



148 WOMAN'S DRESS. 

winter dress is announced in the same formal manner. Fine 
straw or bamboo forms the material of the summer hat, the out- 
side of which is covered with fine silk. At this season also the 
thick silk robes and the heavy padded jackets worn in winter are 
exchanged for light silk or satin tunics. The winter cap has a 
turned-up brim and is covered with satin with a black cloth lin- 
ing, and as in the case of the summer cap a tassel of red silk 
covers the entire crown. 

The wives of mandarins wear the same embroidered insignia 
on' their dresses as their husbands, and their style of dress as 
well as that of Chinese women generally bears a resemblance to 
that of the men. Tliey wear a loose fitting tunic which reaches 
below the knee, and trousers which are drawn in at the ankle 
after the bloomer fashion. On state occasions they wear a richly 
embroidered petticoat coming down to the feet, which hangs 
square both before and behind and is pleated at the sides like a 
Highlander's kilt. The mode of doing the hair varies in almost 
every province. At Canton the women plaster their back hair 
into the shape of a teapot handle, and adorn the sides with ping 
and ornaments, while the young girls proclaim their unmarried 
state by sutting their hair in fringe across their foreheads after a 
fashion not unknown among ourselves. In most parts of the 
country, flowers, natural when obtainable and artificial when not 
so, are largely used to deck out the head dresses, and consider- 
able taste is shown in the choice of colors and the manner in 
which they are arranged. 

Thus far there is nothing to find fault with in female fashions 
in China, but the same cannot be said of the way in which they 
treat their faces and feet. In many countries the secret art of 
removing traces of the ravages of time with the appliances of the 
toilet table has been and is practised ; but by an extravagant 
and hideous use of pigments and cosmetics, the Chinese girl not 
only conceals the fresh complexion of youth, but produces those 
very disfigurements which furnish the only possible excuse for 
artificial complexions. Their poets also have declared that a 
womaia's eyebrows should be arched like a rainbow or shaped 
like a willow leaf, and the consequence is that wishing to act up 
to the idea thus pictured, China women with the aid of tweezers 



COMPRESSION OF WOMAN'S FEET. 



151 



remove all the hairs of their eyebrows which straggle the least 
out of the required line, and when the task becomes impossible 
even with the help of these instruments, the paint brush or a 
stick of charcoal is brought into requisition. A comparison of 
one such painted lily with the natural healthy complexion, bright 
eyes, laughing lips, and dimpled cheeks of a Canton boat girl, for 
example, is enough to vindicate nature's claim to superiority over 
art a thousand fold. 

But the chief offense of Chinese women is in their treatment of 




BANDAGING THE FEET. 



their feet. Various explanations are current as to the origin of 
the custom of deforming the women's feet. Some say tliat it is 
an attempt to imitate the peculiarly shaped foot of a certain 
beautiful empress ; others that it is a device intended to restrain 
the gadding-about tendencies of women; but however that may 
be, the practice is universal except among the Manchoos and the 
Hakka population at Canton, who have natural feet. The feet 
are first bound when the child is about five years old and the 
muscles of locomotion have consequently had time to develop. 



152 ORIGIN OF THE QUEUE. 

A cotton bandage two or three inches wide is wound tightly 
about the foot in different directions. The four smaller toes are 
bent under the foot, and the instep is forced upward and back- 
ward. The foot therefore assumes the shape of an acute triangle, 
the big toe forming the acute angle and the other toes, being 
bent under the foot, becoming almost lost or absorbed. At the 
same time, the shoes worn having high heels, the foot becomes 
nothing but a club and loses all elasticity. The consequence is 
that the women walk as on pegs, and the calf of the leg having 
no exercise shrivels up. Though the effect of this custom is to 
produce real deformity and a miserable tottering gait, even 
foreigners naturally come to associate it with gentility and good 
breeding, and to estimate the character and position of women 
much as the Chinese do, by the size of their feet. The degree of 
severity with which the feet are bound differs widely in the 
various ranks of society. Country women and the poorer classes 
have feet about half the natural size, while those of the genteel 
or fashionable class are only about three inches long. 

Women in the humbler walks of life are therefore often able to 
move about with ease. Most ladies on the other hand are practi- 
cally debarred from walking at all and are dependent on their 
sedan chairs for all locomotion beyond they own doors. But 
even in this case habit becomes a second nature and fashion 
triumphs over sense. No mother, however keen may be her 
recollection of her sufferings as a child, or however conscious she 
may be of the inconveniences and ills arising from her deformed 
feet, would ever dream of saving her own child from like imme- 
diate torture and permanent evil. Further there is probably less 
excuse for such a practice in China than in any other country, for 
the hands and feet of both men and women are naturally both 
small and finely shaped. The Chinese insist upon it that the 
custom of compressing women's feet is neither in as bad taste nor 
so injurious to the health as that of foreign women in compress- 
ing the waist. 

The male analogue of the women's compressed feet in the shaven 
forepart of the head and the braided queue. The custom of thus 
treating the hair was imposed on the people by the first emperor 
of the present dynasty, in 1644. Up to that time the Chinese 



FOOD AND HOW IT IS EATEN. 153 

had allowed the hair to grow long, and were in the habit of 
drawing it up into a tuft on the top of the head. The introduc- 
tion of the queue at tlie bidding of the Manchoorian conqueror 
was intended as a badge of conquest, and as such was at first un- 
willingly adopted by the people. For nearly a century the 
natives of outlying parts of the empire refused to submit their 
heads to the razor and in many districts the authorities rewarded 
converts to the new way by presents of money. As the custom 
spread these bribes were discontinued, and the converse action of 
treating those who refused to conform with severity, completed 
the conversion of the empire. At the present day every China- 
man who is not in open rebellion to the throne, shaves his head 
with the exception of the crown where the hair is allowed to grow 
to its full length. This hair is carefully braided, and falls down 
the back forming what is commonly known as the " pig tail." 
Great pride is taken, especially in the south, in having as long 
and as thick a queue as possible, and when nature has been nig- 
gardly in her supply of natural growth, the deficiency is supple- 
mented by the insertion of silk in the plait. 

The staff of life in China is rice. It is eaten and always eaten, 
from north to south and from east to west, on the tables of the 
rich and poor, morning, noon, and night, except among the very 
poor people in some of the northern non-rice producing provinces 
where millet takes its place. In all other parts the big bowl of 
boiled rice forms the staple of the meal eaten by the people, and 
it is accompanied by vegetables, fish and meat, according to the 
circumstances of the household. Among many people, however, 
there is a disinclination to eat meat, owing to the influence of 
Buddhism. The difference in the qualit}'- and expense of the food 
of the rich from that of the poor, consists principally in the con- 
comitants eaten with the rice or millet. The poor have simply a 
dish of salt vegetables or fish, which costs comparatively little. 
The rich have pork, fowls, eggs, fish and game prepared in 
various ways. 

Before each chair is placed an empty bowl and two chop-sticks, 
while in the middle of the table stands the dishes of food. Each 
person fills his basin from tlie large dishes, or is supplied by the 
aervants, and holding it up to his chin with his left hand he 

10 



154 FOOD PRODUCTS OF CHINA. 

transfers its contents into his mouth with his chop-sticks with 
the utnaost ease. The chop-sticks are held between the first and 
second, and the second and third fingers, and constant practice 
enables a Chinaman to lift up and hold the minutest atoms of 
food, oily and slippery as they often are, with the greatest ease. 
To most foreigners their skillful use is well nigh impossible. To 
the view of the Chinese the use of chop-sticks is an evidence of 
superior culture ; and the use of such barbarous instruments as 
knives and forks, and cutting or tearing the meat from the bones 
on the table instead of having the food properly prepared and 
severed into edible morsels in the kitchen, evidences a lower type 
of civilization. 

The meats most commonly eaten are pork, mutton, and goat's 
flesh, beside ducks, chickens, and pheasants, and in the north 
deer and hares. Beef is never exposed for sale in the Chinese 
markets. The meat of the few cattle which are killed is disposed 
of almost clandestinely. There is a strong and almost universal 
prejudice against eating beef, and the practice of doing so is de- 
claimed against in some of the moral tracts. Milk is hardly used 
at all in the eighteen provinces, and in many places our practice 
of drinking it is regarded with the utmost disgust. 

It must be confessed that in some parts of the country less 
savory viands find their place on the dinner table. In Canton, 
for example, dried rats have a recognized place in the poulterers' 
shops and find a ready market. Horse flesh is also exposed for 
sale, and there are even to be found dog and cat restaurants. 
The flesh of black dogs and cats, and especially the former is 
preferred as being more nutritive. Frogs form a common dish 
among the poor people and are, it is needless to say, very good 
eating. In some parts of the country locusts and grasshoppers 
are eaten. At Tien-tsin men may commonly be seen standing at 
the corners of the streets frying locusts over portable fires, just 
as among ourselves chestnuts are cooked. Ground-grubs, silk- 
worms and water-snakes are also occasionally treated as food. 
The sea, lakes, and rivers abound in fish, and as fish forms a 
staple food of the people the fisherman's art has been brought to 
a great degree of perfection. The same care as in the production 
pf fish is extended to that of ducks and poultry. Eggs are arti- 



FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 167 

ficially liatched in immense numbers, and the poultry markets 
and boats along the river at Canton are most amazing in their 
extent. 

The funerals of grown persons, and especially of parents, are 
as remarkable for burdensome ceremonies, extravagant manifesta- 
tions of grief and lavish expense, as those of children are for 
their coldness and neglect. Candles, incense and offerings of 
food are placed before the corpse, and a company of priests is 
engaged to chant prayers for the departed spirit. An abundance 
of clothing is deposited with the body in the coffin and various 
ceremonies are performed during several days immediately after 
that, and on every subsequent seventh day, closing with the 
seventh seven. When the coffin is carried out for burial, men 
and women follow in the procession clothed in coarse white gar- 
ments, white being used for mourning. 

Inasmuch as the coffin must remain in the hall for forty-nine 
days, naturally they are prepared with a great deal of care. Very 
thick planks are used in its construction, cut from the hardest 
trees, caulked on the outside and cemented on the inside, and 
finally varnished or lacquered. Sometimes a coffin containing 
a body is kept in the house for a considerable length of time 
after the forty-nine days have expired, while arrangements are 
being made for a burying place and other preliminaries are 
attended to. The lids being nailed down in cement they are per- 
fectly air-tight. 

The notions which Chinamen entertain concerning the future 
life rob death of half its terrors and lead them to regard their 
funeral ceremonies and the due performance of the proper rites 
by their descendants as tlie chief factors of their future well 
being. Among other things the importance of securing a coffin 
according to the approved fashion is duly recognized, and as men 
approach old age they not infrequently buy their own coffins, 
which they keep carefully by them. The present of a coffin is 
considered a dutiful attention from a son to an aged father. 
. The choice of a site for the grave is determined by a profes- 
sor of the "FungShuy " superstition, who, compass in hand, ex- 
plores the entire district to find a spot which combines all the 
qualities necessary for the quiet repose of the dead. When such. 



158 



CURIOUS BURIAL CUSTOMS. 



a favored spot has been discovered a priest is called in to deter- 
mine a lucky day for the burial. This is by no means an easy mat- 
ter and it often happens that the dead remain unburied for 
months or even years on account of the difficulties in the way of 




THE PUNISHMENTS OP HELL.- 



-Fr-om Chinese Drawings. 



choosing either fortunate graves or lucky days. The ceremonies 
of the interment itself and of mourning that follows are most 
elaborate in character, and too much involved for detailed descrip- 
tion here. 



CURIOUS BURIAL CUSTOMS. 169 

But universal as the practice of burying may be said to be in 
China there are exceptions to it. The Buddhist priests as a rule 
prefer cremation, and this custom, which came with the religion 
they profess from India, has at times found imitators among the 
laity. In Formosa the dead are exposed and dried in the air; 
and some of the Meaou-tsze tribes of central and southern China 
bury their dead, it is true, but after an interval of a year or 
more, having chosen a lucky day, they disinter them. On such 
occasions they go accompanied by their friends to the grave, and 
having opened the tomb they take out the bones and having 
brushed and washed them clean they put them back wrapped in 
cloth. 

The necessity in the Chinese mind that their bones must rest 
in the soil of their native land with their ancestors, has made to 
exist some peculiar practices among the colonizing Chinese in the 
United States and other countries. The bones of those who die 
thus far away from home are carefully preserved by their coun- 
trymen and shipped back, sometimes after many years, to find a 
resting place in the Middle Kingdom. 

It is a curious circumstance that in China where there exists 
such a profound veneration for everything old, there should not 
be found any ancient builduigs or old ruins. That there is an 
abundant supply of durable materials for building is certain, and 
for many centuries the Chinese have been acquainted with the 
art of brick making, yet they have reared no building possessing 
enduring stability. Not only does the ephemeral nature of the 
tent, which would indicate their original nomadic origin and rec- 
ollection of old tent homes, appear in the slpnder construction of 
Chinese houses, but even in shape they assume a tent-like form. 
Etiquette provides that in houses of the better class a high wall 
shall surround the building, and that no window shall look out- 
ward. Consequently streets in the fashionable parts of cities 
have a dreary aspect. The only breaks in the long line of dismal 
wall are the front doors, which are generally closed, or if not, 
movable screens bar the sight of all beyond the door. Passing 
around one such screen one finds himself in a court-yard which 
is laid out as a garden or paved with stone. From this court- 
yard one reaches, on either side, rooms occupied by servants, or 



160 PLAN OF THE HOUSES. 

directly in front, another building. Through this latter another 
court-yard is reached, in tlie rooms surrounding which the family 
live, and behind this again are the women's apartments, which 
not infrequently give exit to a garden at the back. 

Wooden pillars support the roofs of the buildings, and the in- 
tervals between these are filled up with brick work. The 
window-frames are wooden, over which is pasted either paper or 
calico, or sometimes pieces of talc to transmit the light. The 
doors are almost invariably folding doors ; the floors either stone 
or cement ; and ceilings aie not often used, the roof being the 
only covering to the rooms. Carpets are seldom used, more 
especially in southern China, where also stoves for warming pur- 
poses are known. In the north, where in the winter the cold is 
very great, portable charcoal stoves are employed and small chaf- 
ing dishes are carried about from room to room. Delicate little 
hand-stoves, which gentlemen and ladies carry in their sleeves, 
are very much in vogue. In the colder latitudes a raised plat- 
form or dais is built in the room, of brick and stone, under which 
a fire is kindled with a chimney to carry off the smoke. The 
whole substance of this dais becomes heated and retains its 
warmth for several hours. This is the almost universal bed of 
the north of China. But the main dependence of the Chinese for 
personal warmth is on clothes. As the winter approaches garment 
is added to garment and furs to quilted vestments, until the 
wearer assumes an unwieldy and exaggerated shape. Well-to-do 
Chinamen seldom take strong exercise, and they are therefore 
able to bear clothes which to a European would be unendurable. 

Of the personal comfort obtainable in a house. Chinamen are 
strangely ignorant. Their furniture is of the hardest and most 
uncompromising nature. Chairs made of a hard black wood, 
angular in shape, and equally unyielding divans, are the only 
seats known to them. Their beds are scarcely more comfortable, 
and their pillows are oblong cubes of bamboo or other hard 
material. For the maintenance of the existing fashions of female 
head dressing, this kind of pillow is essential to women at least, 
as their hair, which is only dressed at intervals of days, and which 
IS kept in its shape by the abundant use of bandoline, would be 
crushed and disfigured if lain upon for a moment. Women, 



FURNISHINGS OF THE HOUSES. 161 

therefore, who make any pretension of following the fashion, are 
obliged to sleep at night on their backs, resting the nape of the 
neck on the pillow and thus keeping the head and hair free from 
contact with anything. 

The ornaments in the houses of the well-to-do are frequently 
elaborate and beautiful. Their wood carvings, cabinets, and 
ornamental pieces of furniture, and the rare beauty of their 
bronzes and porcelain, are of late years well known and mucli 
sought for in our own country. Tables are nearly uniform in 
size, furnishing a seat for one person on each of the four sides, 
and tables are multiplied sufficiently to accommodate whatever 
number requires to be served. When guests are entertained, the 
two sexes eat separately in different rooms, but in ordinary meals 
the members of the family of both sexes sit down together with 
much less formality. 

The streets in the towns differ widely in construction in the 
northern and southern portions of the empire. In the south they 
are narrow and paved, in the north they are wide and unpaved, 
both constructions being suited to the local wants of the people. 
The absence of wheel traffic in the southern provinces makes 
wide streets unnecessary, while by contracting their Avidth the 
sun's rays have less chance of beating down on the heads of 
passers and it is possible to stretch awnings from roof to roof. It 
is true that this is done at the expense of fresh air, but even to 
do this is a gain. Shops are all open in front, the counters form- 
ing the only barrier. The streets are crowded in the extreme, 
and passage is necessarily slow. 

This inconvenience is avoided in the wide streets of the cities 
of the north, but these streets are so ill kept that in wet weather 
they are mud and in dry they art jovered inches deep in dust. 
Of the large cities of the north and south Peking and Canton 
may be taken as typical examples and certainly, with the excep- 
tion of the palace, the walls, and certain imperial temples, the 
streets of Peking compare very unfavorably with those of Canton. 
The walls surrounding Peking are probably the finest and best 
kept in the empire.^ In height they are about forty feet and the 
same in width. The top, which is defended by massive battle- 
ments, is well paved and is kept in excellent order. Over each 



162 



HORRORS OF INFANTICIDE. 



gate is built a fortified tower between eighty and ninety feet 
high. 

The power of a Chinese father over his children is complete 
except that it stops short with life. The practice of selling chil- 
dren is common, and though the law makes it a punishable offense, 
should the sale be effected against the will of the children, the 
prohibition is practically ignored. In the same way a law exists 
making infanticide a crime, but as a matter of fact it is never 
acted upon ; and in some parts of the country, more especially in 




CHINESE CART. 



the provinces of Chiang-hsi and Fu-chien, this most unnatural 
offense prevails among the poorer classes to an alarming extent. 
Not only do the people acknowledge the existence of the practice, 
but they even go the length of defending it. It is only however 
abject poverty which drives parents to this dreadful expedient, 
and in the more prosperous and wealtliy districts the crime is 
almost unknown. Periodically the mandarins inveigh against the 
inhumanity of the offense and appeal to the better instincts of 
the people to put a stop to it ; but a stone which stands near a 



HORRORS OF INFANTICIDE. 



163 



pool outside the city of Foochow bearing the inscription, " Girls 
may not be drowned here," testifies with terrible emphasis to the 
futility of their endeavors. 

The large number of cast-a-way bodies of dead infants seen in 
many parts of China is often regarded, though unjustly, as evi- 
dence of the prevalence of this crime. In most instances, however, 
it really indicates only the denial of burial to infants. This is 
due, at least in many places, to the following superstition : When 
they die it is supposed tliat their bodies have been inhabited by 
the spirit of a deceased creditor of a previous state of existence. 
The child during its sickness 
may be cared for with the 
greatest tenderness, but if it 
dies parental love is turned 
to hate and resentment. It 
is regarded as an enemy and 
intruder in the family who 
has been exacting satisfaction 
for the old unpaid debt ; and 
having occasioned a great 
deal of anxiety, trouble, and 
expense, has left nothing to 
show for it but disappoint- 
ment. The uncared for and 
uncoffined little body is cast 
away anywhere ; and as it is 
carried out of the door the 
house is swept, crackers are 
fired, and gongs beaten to 

frighten the spirit so that it may never dare enter the house again. 
Thus do superstitions dry up the fountains of natural affection. 

The complete subjection of children to their parents is so 
firmly imbued in the minds of every Chinese youth, that resist- 
ance to the infliction of cruel and even unmerited punishment is 
seldom if ever offered, and full-grown men submit meekly to be 
flogged without raising their hands. The law steps in on every 
occasion in support of paiental authority. Filial piety is the 
leading principle in Chinese ethics. 




SCHOOL BOY. 



164 



SCHOOL LIFE OF THE CHILDREN. 



Scliool life begins at the age of six, and among the wealthier 
classes great care is shown in the choice of master. The stars 
having indicated a propitious day for beginning work, the boy- 
presents himself at school, bringing with him two small candles, 
some sticks of incense, and some paper money, which are burnt 
at the shrine of Confucius, before which also the little fellow 
prostrates himself three times. There being no alphabet in 
Chinese the pupil has to plunge at once into the middle of things 
and begins by learning to read. Having mastered two elementary 
books, the next step is to the ••' Four Books." Then follow the 
"Five Classics," the final desire of Chinese learning. A full 




CHINESE SCHOOL. 

comprehension of these Four Books and Five Classics, together 
with the commentaries upon them, and the power of turning this 
knowledge to account in the shape of essays and poems, is all 
that is required at the highest examination in the empire. This 
course of instruction has been exactly followed out in every 
school in the empire for many centuries. 

The choice of a future calling, which is often so perplexing in 
our own country, is simplified in China by the fact of there being 
but two pursuits which a man of respectability and education 
can follow, namely the maudarinate and trades. The liberal 
professions as we understand them are unknown in China. The 



^Mm 

ItK iirt J 




CHANG VEN HOON- 



CHOICE OF A VOCATION. 



16^ 



judicial system forbids the existence of the legal profession ex- 
cept in the case of official secretaries attached to the mandarins' 
courts; and medicine is represented by charlatans who prey on 
the follies of their fellowmen and dispense ground tiger's teeth, 
snake's skins, etc., in lieu of drugs. A lad, or his parents for 
him, has therefore practically to consider whether he should 
attempt to compete at the general competitive examinations to 
qualify him for office, or whether he should embark in one of the 
numerous mercantile concerns which abound among the money- 
making and thrifty Chinese. 

The succession of examinations leading up to the various hon- 
orary degrees and official 
positions, are complicated 
and exacting. The suc- 
cessful candidates have 
great honor attached to 
them, and are the promi- 
nent and successful people 
of the empire. These ex- 
aminations are open to 
every man in the empire of 
whatever grade, unless he 
belong to. one of the fol 
lowing four classes, or be 
the descendant of one such 
within three generations; 
actors, prostitutes, jailers, 
and executioners and ser- 
vants of mandarins. The theory with regard to these people is 
that actors and prostitutes being devoid of all shame, and execu- 
tioners and jailers having become hardened by the cruel nature of 
their offices, are unfit in their own persons or as represented by 
their sons to win posts of honor by means of the examinations. 

The military examinations are held separately, and though the 
literary calibre of the candidates is treated much in the same 
way as at the civil examinations, the same high standard of 
knowledge is not required; but in addition skill in archery and 
ia the use of warlike weapons is essential. It is illustrative of 




SCHOOL GUU 



168 



TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 



the backwardness of the Chinese in warlike methods, that though 
they have been acquainted with the use of gunpowder for some 
centuries, they revert in the examination of military candidates 
to the weapons of the ancients, and that while theoretically they 
are great strategists, strength and skill in the use of these 
weapons are the only tests required for commissions. 

Persons of almost every class and in almost every station of 
life make an effort to send their boys to school, with the hope 
that they may distinguish themselves, be advanced to high posi- 
tions in the state, and 
reflect honor upon their 
families. Of those who 
compete for literary 
honors a very small 
proportion are success- 
ful in attaining even the 
first degree, though 
some strive for it for a 
lifetime. These unsuc- 
cessful candidates and 
the graduates of the first 
and second degrees, 
form the important class 
of literary men scattered 
throughout the empire. 
The large proportion of 
this class are compara- 
tively poor, and their 
Lbh, Atuibi. services may be ob- 

tained for a very small 
remuneration. They are employed to teach the village schools. 
Rich families in different neighborhoods often assist in keeping 
up the school for the credit of the village, and opportunities for 
obtaining an education are thus brought within the reach of all. 
Graduates of the first and second degrees, generally have the 
charge of more advanced pupils, and many are engaged as tutors 
in private families, commanding higher wages. They are also em- 
ployed as scribes or copyists, and to write letters, family histories, 





BUSINESS AND THE TRADES. 



169 



genealogies, etc. In the larger cities schools are established by the 
goveriiment, and in many places free schools are supported by 
wealthy men, but these institutions do not seem to be popular 
and are not flourishing. 

Though trade practically holds its place as next in estimation 
to the mandarinate, in theory it should follow both the careers of 
husbandry and of 
the mechanical 
arts. All land is 
held in free-hold 
from the govern- 
ment, and princi- 
pally by clans or 
families, who pay 
an annual tax to 
the crown, amount- 
ing to about one- 
tenth of the pro- 
duce. As long as 
this tax is paid 
regularly the 
owners are never 
dispossessed, and 
properties thus re- 
main in the hands 
of clans and fami- 
lies for many gen- 
erations. In order 
that farming oper- 
ations shall be 
properly conduct- 
ed, there are estab- 
lished in almost every district agricultural boards, consisting of 
old men learned in husbandry. By these veterans a careful 
watch is kept over the work done by the neighboring farmers, 
and in the case of any dereliction of duty or neglect of the pre- 
scribed modes of farming, the offender is summoned before the 
district magistrate, who inflicts the punishment which he con- 
11 




CHINESE BARBER. 



170 MODES OF TRAVEL. 

siders proportionate to the offense. The appliances of the 
Chinese for irrigating the fields and winnowing the grain are 
excellent, but those for getting the largest crops out of the land 
are of a rude and primitive kind. 

Among their artisans the Chinese number carpenters, masons, 
tailors, shoemakers, workers in iron and brass, and silversmiths 
and goldsmiths, who can imitate almost any article of foreign 
manufacture ; also workmen in bamboo, carvers, idol makers, 
needle manufacturers, barbers, hair-dressers, etc. Business men 
sell almost every kind of goods and commodities wholesale and 
retail. Large fortunes are amassed very much in the same way 
and by the same means as are now in our own country. The 
wealth of the rich is invested in lands or houses, or employed as 
capital in ti'ade or banking, or is lent out on good security, and 
often at a high rate of interest. 

Traveling in China is slow and leisurely, and the modes of it 
vary greatly in different parts of the empire. In many of the 
provinces, especially along the coast and in the south, canals take 
the place, for the most part, of roads. In the vicinity of Ningpo 
the country is supplied with a complete network of them, often 
intersecting each other at distances of one or two miles or less. 
Farmers frequently have short branch canals running off to their 
houses, and the farm boat takes the place of the farm wagon. 
Heavy loaded passage or freight boats ply in every direction. 
The ordinary charge for passage is less than one-half a cent per 
mile. The boats are admirably adapted to the people and circum- 
stances, being built for comfort rather than for speed. These 
water courses then, with the rivers which are so numerous, fur- 
nish the most general way of traveling throughout the empire. 

In the north, where the country is level and open, the existence 
of broad roads enables the people to use rude carts for the con- 
veyance of passengers and freight. Mules are used for riding 
purposes, and palanquins borne by two horses, or sedan chairs 
carried by two coolies, are popular ways of traveling. The sea- 
going junks are very much larger than the river craft, and differ- 
ent in construction. The best ones are divided into water tight 
compartments and are capable of carrying several thousand tons 



HOLIDAYS AND AMUSEMENTS. 



171 



of cargo. They are generally three-masted and carry huge sails 
made of matting. 

Although the Chinese have the compass, they are without the 
knowledge necessary for taking nautical observations, so they 
either hug the land or steer straight by the compass until they 
reach some coast with which they are familiar. In these circum- 
stances it is easy to understand why the loss of junks and lives on 
the Chinese coast every year is so great. The immense number 
of people who live in boats on the rivers in southern China, 
render the terrible typhoons which sweep the sea and land espec- 
ially destructive. For the most part these boat-people are not of 
Chinese origin but are remnants of the aborigines of the country. 




J-A^. 



That the race has ever survived is a constant wonder, seeing the 
hourly and almost momentary danger of drowning in which the 
children live on board their boats. The only precaution that is 
ever taken, even in the case of infants, is to tie an empty gourd 
between their shoulders, so that should they fall into the water 
they may be kept afloat until help comes. They are born in 
their boats, they marry in their boats, and die in their boats. 

The Chinese calendar and the festivities that accompany differ- 
ent seasons and anniversaries, are peculiarly interesting and 
different from our own, but space forbids any detailed account of 
them. The four seasons correspond to ours, and in addition to 



172 HOLIDAYS AND AMUSEMENTS. 

the four seasons the year is divided into eight parts called 
"joints," or divisions, and these are again subdivided into six- 
teen more called " breaths," or sources of life. There are forty 
festivals of China which are celebrated with observances generally 
throughout the empire and are considered to be important. They 
do not occur at regular intervals, and there is no periodical day 
of rest and recreation corresponding at all to our Sunday. The 
festivities of the new year exceed all others in their prominence 
and continuance, and in the universality and enthusiasm with 
which they are observed. " The Feast of Lanterns " and " The 
Festival of the Tombs " are two of the most interesting of Chinese 
festivals. The ninth day of the ninth month is a great time for 
flying kites. On that day thousands of men enjoy the sport and 
immense kites of all grotesque shapes fill the air. Theaters are 
very common in Cliina, but the character and associations of tlie 
stage are very different from those of western lands and are very 
much less respected. Actors are regarded as an inferior class. 
Females do not appear upon the stage, but men act the part of 
female characters. Gambling is very common in China and is 
practiced in a variety of ways. Its ill effects are acknowledged, 
and there are laws prohibiting it, but they are a dead letter. 
There are many kinds of stringed and reed instruments used by 
the musicians of China. Bells, also, are very numerous, and ex- 
cellent sweet toned bells are made. A careful watch is kept over 
the efforts of composers by the imperial board of music, whose 
duty it is to keep alive the music of the ancients and to suppress 
all compositions which are not in harmony with it. It is difficult 
for western ears to find anything truly beautiful in Chinese 
music. 

The medical art of China is not of a sort to win much admira- 
tion from us. The Chinese know nothing of phj^siology or an- 
atomy. The functions of the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and 
brain are sealed books to them and they recognize no distinction 
between veins and arteries and between nerves and tendons. 
Their deeply rooted repugnance to the use of a knife in surgery 
or to post-mortem examinations prevents the possibility of their 
acquiring any accurate knowledge of the position of the various 
organs. They consider that from the heart and pit of the stomach 



MEDICAL PRACTICE. US 

all ideas and delights proceed, and that the gall bladder is the 
seat of courage. Man's body is believed to be composed of the 
five elements, fire, water, metal, wood, earth. The medical pro- 
fession in China is an open one, for there are no medical colleges 
and no examination tests to worry the minds of would-be practi- 
tioners. Some doctors have prescriptions as valuable and of the 
same sort as those prepared from herbs and vegetables by many 
an old woman in our own country settlements. On the other 
hand, some of the most ridiculous remedies are given, such as 
tiger's teeth, gold and silver leaf, and shavings of rhinoceros 
horns, or ivory. Fortunately for the people imflammatory 
diseases are almost unknown in China, but small-pox, consump- 
tion, and dysentery rage almost unchecked by medical help; skin 
diseases are very prevalent, and cancer is by no means uncommon. 
Of late the practice of vaccination has begun to make its way 
among the people. 

There are hosts of superstitions among the Chinese people, and 
their beliefs regarding spirits and the influence of the dead, of 
sorcerers, and of devils, are myriad. These superstitions pervade 
every rank of society, from the highest to the lowest. The 
general term applied to the whole system of superstition and luck 
is fung-shwuy, and the practitioners and learned men in this 
science are called upon to determine what action shall be taken 
in all sorts of circumstances. 

There are benevolent societies in China corresponding in 
variety and almost in number to those of Christian lands. There 
are orphan asylums, institutions for the relief of widows, and for 
the aged and infirm, public hospitals and free schools, together 
with other kindred institutions more peculiarly Chinese in their 
character. In some parts of China schools for girls exist, taught 
by female teachers. In most places, however females are seldom 
taught letters, and schools for their benefit are not known. 
Foreigners in establishing them invariably give a small sum of 
money or some rice for each day's attendance, and it is thought 
that these schools could not be kept together in any other way. 

The Chinese describe themselves as possessing three religions, 
or more accurately three sects, namely, Joo keaou. the sect of 
scholars , Fuh keaou, the sect of Buiaha , and Tao keaou, the 



174 CONFUCIANISM. 

sect of Tao. Both as regards age and origin, the sect of scholars, 
or as it is generally called, Confucianism, represents pre-eminently 
the religion of China. It has its root in the worship of Shang-te, 
a deity associated with the earliest traditions of the Cliinese race. 
This deity was a personal god, who ruled the affairs of men, re- 
warding and punishing as appeared just. But during the troub- 
lous times which followed the first sovereigns of the Chow 
dynasty, the belief in a personal deity grew dim, until when Con- 
fucius began his career there appeared nothing strange in his 
atheistic teachings. His concern was with man as a member of 
society, and the object of his teaching was to lead him into those 
paths of rectitude which might best contribute to the happiness 
of the man, and to the well-being of the community of which he 
formed a part. Man, he held, was born good and was endowed 
with qualities, which when cultivated and improved by watchful- 
ness and self-restraint, might enable him to acquire godlike 
wisdom. In the system of Confucius there is no place for a 
personal god. Man has his destiny in his own hands to make or 
mar. Neither had Confucius any inducement to offer to en- 
courage men in the practice of virtue, except virtue itself. He 
was a matter-of-fact, unimaginative man, who was quite content 
to occupy himself with the study of his fellow men, and was dis- 
inclined to grope into the future. Succeeding ages, recognizing 
the loftiness of his aims, eliminated all that was impracticable and 
unreal in his system, and held fast to that part of it that was true 
and good. They clung to the doctrines of filial piety, brotherly 
love, and virtuous living. It was admiration for the emphasis 
which he laid on these and other virtues, which has drawn so 
many millions of men unto him and has adorned every city of the 
empire with temples built in his honor. 

Side by side with the revival of the Joo keaou, under the in- 
fluence of Confucius, grew up a system of a totally different 
nature, which when divested of its esoteric doctrines and reduced 
by the practically minded Chinamen to a code of morals, was 
destined in future ages to become affiliated with the teachings of 
the sage. This was Taoism, which was founded by Lao-tzu, who 
was a contemporary of Confucius. The object of his teaching 
was to inauce men, by the practice of self-abnegation, to reach 



TAOISM. 177 

absorption in something which he called Tao, and which bears a 
certain resemblance to the Nirvana of the Buddhists. The 
primary meaning of Tao is " the way," " the path," but in Lao-tzu 
philosophy it was more than the way, it was the way-goer as well. 
It was an eternal road; along it all beings and things walked ; it 
was everything and nothing, and the cause and effect of all. All 
things originated from Tao, conformed to Tao, and to Tao at last 
returned. It was absorption into this "mother of all things" 
that Lao-tzu aimed at. But these subtilties, to the common 
people were foolishness, and before long the philosophical doc- 
trine of the identity of existence and non-existence assumed in 
their eyes a warrant for the old Epicurean motto, " Let us eat 
and drink, for to-morrow we die." The pleasures of sense were 
substituted for the delights of virtue, and to prolong life the 
votaries began a search for elixirs of immortality, and charms. 
Taoism quickly degenerated into a system of magic. To-day the 
monopoly which Taoist priests enjoy as the exponents of the 
mysteries of nature, inherited from the time when they sought 
for natural charms, makes them indispensably necessary to all 
classes, and the most confirmed Confucianist does not hesitate to 
consult the shaven followers of Lao-tzu on the choice of the site 
for his house, the position of his family graveyard, or a fortunate 
day for undertaking an enterprise. Apart from the practice of 
these magical arts, Taoism has become assimilated with modern 
Confucianism and is scarcely distinguishable from it. 

The teachings of Lao-tzu bore a sufficient resemblance to the 
musings of Indian sages, that they served to prepare the way for 
the introduction of Buddhism. A deputation of Buddhists ar- 
rived in China in the year 216 B. C, but were harshly treated, 
and returned to their homes without leaving any impress of their 
religion. It was not until some sixty years after Christ, in the 
reign of the Emperor Ming Ti, that Buddhism was actually in- 
troduced. One night the emperor dreamed that a monster golden 
image appeared and said, " Buddha bids you to send to the west- 
ern countries to search for hira and to get books and images." 
The emperor obeyed, and sent an embassy to India which re- 
turned after an absence of eleven years bringing back images, the 
sacred writings, and missionaries who could translate these 



178 



BUDDHISM. 



scriptures into Chinese. Thus was introduced into China the 
knowledge of that system which in purity and loftiness of aim 
takes its place next to Christianity among the religions of the 
world. From this time Buddhism grew and prevailed in the 
land. 

The Buddhism of China is not, however, exactly that of India. 
The Chinese believe in a material paradise, which is obviously 




BUniUUsl n MI'LE. 



inconsistent with the orthodox belief in Nirvana. Like the other 
faiths of China, orthodox Buddliism could not entirely satisfy 
the people. Like the Jews of old they were eager after signs, 
and self interest made their spiritual rulers nothing loth to grant 
them their desire. From the mountains and monasteries came 
men who claimed to possess the elixir of immortality, and pro- 



UNION OF THREE FAITHS. 179 

claimed themselves adepts in witchcraft and sorcery. Bj magic 
incantations they exorcised evil spirits, and dissipated famine, 
pestilence, and disease. By the exercise of their supernatural 
powers they rescued souls from hell, and arrested pain and death. 
In the services of the church they added ritual to ritual. By 
such means they won their way among the people, and even 
sternly orthodox Confucianists make use of their services to 
chant the liturgies of the dead. But while superstition compels 
even the wise and the learned to pay homage to this faith, there 
is scarcely an educated man who would not repudiate a sugges- 
tion that he is a follower of Buddha; and though the common 
people throng the temples to buy charms and consult astrologers, 
they yet despise both the priests and the religion they profess. 
But Buddhism has after all been a blessing rather than a curse 
in China. It has to a certain extent lifted the mind of the peo- 
ple from the too exclusive consideration of mundane affairs, to 
the contemplation of a future state. It has taught them to value 
purity of life more highly ; to exercise self-constraint and to for- 
get self; and to practise charity towards their neighbors. 

It will be seen that no clearly defined line of demarcation sep- 
arates the three great sects of China. Each in its turn has bor- 
rowed from the others, until at the present day it may be doubted 
whether there are to be found any pure Confucianists, pure 
Buddhists, or pure Taoists. Confucianism has provided the 
moral basis on which the national character of the Chinese rests, 
and Buddhism and Taoism have supplied the supernatural ele- 
ment wanting in that system. Speaking generally thei), the re- 
ligion of China is a medley of the three great sects which are 
now so closely interlaced that it is impossible either to classify 
or enumerate the members of each creed. The only other relig- 
ion of importance in China is Mohammedanism, which is confined 
to the south-western and north-western provinces of the empire. 
In this faith also the process of absorption in a national mixture 
of beliefs is making headway. And since the suppression of the 
Panthay rebellion in Yun-nan, there has been a gradual decline in 
the number of the followers of the prophet. 

The speech and the written composition of the Chinese differ 
more than those of any other people. The former addresses it- 



180 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 

self, like all other languages, to the mind through the ear; the 
latter speaks to the mind through the eye, not as words but as 
symbols of ideas. All Chinese literature might be understood 
and translated though the student of it could not name a single 
character. The colloquial speech is not difficult of acquisition, 
but the written composition is slow of learning by foreigners. 
" Pidgin English " is a mixed Chinese, Portuguese and English 
langunge, which is a creation of the necessities of communication 
between Chinese and foreigners at the open ports, while neither 
party had the time or means or wish to acquire an accurate 
knowledge of the language of the other. " Pidgin " is a Chinese 
attempt to pronounce our word business, and the materials of the 
lingo are nearly all English words similarly represented or mis- 
represented. The idiom on the other hand is entirely that of 
colloquial Chinese. Foreigners master it in a short time so as I o 
carry on long conversations by means of it, and to transact im- 
portant affairs of business. This jargon is passing away. Cliinese 
who know English and English who know Chinese are increasing 
in number from year to year. 

In the first two chapters, containing a sketch of Chinese his- 
tory, mention has been made of the greater literary works pro- 
duced in the early centuries of the empire ; and the calamity of 
the burning of the books has been described. Of the famous 
classics which are yet cherished we will not speak again here. 
After the revival of literature, and the encouragement given to 
it by the successors of the emperor who destroyed the libraries 
of the empire, the tide has flowed onward in an ever-increasing 
volume, checked only at times by one of those signal calamities 
often overtaking the imperial libraries of China. It is note- 
worthy that however ruthlessly the libraries and intellectual cen- 
ters have been destroyed, one of the first acts of the successful 
founders of succeeding dynasties has been to restore them to 
their former completeness and efficiency. 

The Chinese divide their literature into four departments, 
classical, philosophical, historical and belles lettres. The " nine 
classics," of which we have already spoken as being the books 
studied by every Chinese student, form but the nucleus of the 
immense mass of literature which has gathered around them. 



POSSIBILITIES OF CHINA. 



181 



The historical literature of China is the most important brancli 
of the national literature. There are works which record the 
purely political events of each reign, as well as those on chronol- 
ogy, rites and music, jurisprudence, political economy, state sac- 
rifices, astronomy, geography, and records of the neighboring- 
countries. On drawing, painting, and medicine much has been 
written. Poems, novels, and romances, dramas, and books 
written in the coUoqual style, are frequent in the Chinese litera- 




TEMPLE OF FIVE HUNDRED GODS, AT CANTON. 

ture. There is no more pleasant reading than some of their his- 
torical romances, and some of the best novels have been trans- 
lated into European languages. There is, however, considerable 
poverty of imagination, little analysis of character, and no inter- 
weaving of plot in the fiction. 

The glance that we have taken at the habits and customs of 
life among the Chinese people, shows that while they lack many 
of the things that we have been taught to believe essential to 



182 POSSIBILITIES OF CHINA. 

civilization, they nevertheless are equipped with many good 
things. They have the same human instincts, and are ready and 
able to absorb learning with great rapidity, when once they be- 
come convinced of the value of it. It is their conservatism and 
their belief that they are the only truly civilized people in the 
world, while all others are barbarians, that has made them so 
slow to adopt any of the better things of western civilization. 



'JAPAN 







JAPANESE MUSICIAN. 




THE MIKADO AND HIS PRINXIPAL OFFICERS. 



HISTORICAI. SKETCH OF JAPAN FROM THE EARU- 

EST TIMES TO FIRST CONTACT WITH 

EUROPEAN CIVIUZATION. 



The Oldest Dynasty in the World and its Records— The First Emperor of Japan— Some 
ot the Famous Early Rulers— Invasion and Conquest of Corea by the Empress Jingo— How 
Civilization Came from Corea to Japan— The Rise of the Dual System of Government- 
Mikado and Shogun-Expulsion of t!ie Hojo Dynasty of Shoguns— The Invasion of tha 
Mongol Tartars— Annihilation of the Armada— Corruption of the Shogun Rule— Growth of 
the Feudal System— Another Conquest of Corea— Founding of the Last Dynasty of Shoguns 
—Advance of Japan m the Age of Hideyoshi. 

In a historical sketch of the life of a nation which counts 
twenty-five centuries of recorded history, but the briefest out- 
line can be given. The scope of such a work as this does not 
admit of minute historical details. When it is said that tradi- 
tions exist carrying back the history for a number of years which 
requires several hundred ciphers to measure, the effort to relate 
even an outline becomes almost appalling. Until the twelfth cen- 
tury of our era, Europe did not know even of the existence of 
Japan ; and the reports which were then brought by Marco Polo. 
who had learned of the island empire of Zipangu from the 
Chinese were as vague as they were enticing. The successes ot 
the Jesuit missionaries led by Xavier, and tlie commercial inter- 
course established by the Portuguese in the latter part of the. 
16th century, and by the Dutch somewhat later, promised to dis- 
close the mysteries of the far Pacific empire ; but within a few 
generations these were more hopelessly than ever sealed against 
foreign intrusion. Only forty years ago the United States of 
America knocked at the door of Japan, met a welcome under 
protest, and the country began to open to western civilization. 
Even yet the great mass of the people of our own country have 
far from a right conception of the ancient civilization which has 
for ages prevailed in these islands of the Pacific. 

The Japanese imperial dynasty is the oldest in the world. 
Two thousand five hundred and fifty-four years ago in 660 B. C, 

CIST) 



188 THE OLDEST DYNASTY IN THE WORLD. 

the sacred histories relate that Jimmu Tenno commenced to 
reign as the first Mikado, or Emperor of Japan. The sources of 
Japanese history are rich and solid, historical writings forming 
the largest and most important divisions of their voluminous 
literature. The period from about the ninth century until the 
present time is treated very fully, while the real history of the 
period prior to the eighth century of the Christian era is very 
meagre. It is nearly certain that the Japanese possessed no 
writing until the sixth century A. D. Their oldest extant com- 
position is the " Kojiki," or " Book of Ancient Traditions." It 
may be called the Bible of the Japanese. It comprises three 
volumes, composed A. D. 711-712, and is said to have been 
preceaed by two similar works about one hundred years earlier, 
but neither of these have been preserved. The first volume 
treats of the creation of the heavens and earth, the gods and 
goddesses, and the events of the holy age or mythological period. 
The second and third give the history of the mikados from the 
year i ^^660 B. C.) to the year 1280 of the Japanese era. It was 
first printed in the years A. D. 1624-1642. The " Nihongi " 
completed A. D. 720 also contains a Japanese record of the 
mytnological period, and brings down the annals of the mikados 
to A. D. 699. These are the oldest books in the language. They 
contain so much that is fabulous, mythical or exaggerated, that 
their statements especially in respect of dates cannot be ac- 
cepted as true history. A succession of historical works of 
apparent reliability illustrate the period between the eighth and 
the eleventh centuries, and still better ones treat of the mediaeval 
period from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. The period 
from 1600 to 1853 is less known than others in earlier times, 
because of mandates that existed forbidding the production of 
contemporary histories. 

Whatever may be the actual fact, Jimmu Tenno is popularly 
believed to have been a real person and the first emperor of 
Japan. He is deified in the Shinto religion, and in thousands of 
shrines dedicated to him the people worship his spirit. In one 
official list of mikados he is named as the first. The reigning 
Emperor refers to him as his ancestor, from whom he claims 
unbroken descent as the 123rd member of this dynasty. The 



FIRST EMPEROR OF JAPAN. 



189 



seventh day of April is fixed as the anniversary of his ascension 
to the throne and that day is a national holiday on which the 
birth, the accession and death of this national hero are still 
annually celebrated. Then one may see flags flying from both 
public and private buildings, and hear the reverberations of a 
royal salute fired by the ironclad navy of modern Japan from 
Krupp guns, and "'"■■" __— - "~ 

by the military in 
French uniforms 
from Remington 
rifles. The era of 
Jimmu is the sliU< 

ing point of J ip I 

anese chronolo!4^ 
and the year T ( 
the Japanese eia i 
that upon whu 1 
he ascended the _= 
throne at Kashiwa- "f = 
vara. % 

In the beginning ^ 
there existed, ac- 
cording to one in- 
terpretation of the 
somewhat perplex- 
ing Shinto mythol- 
ogy, chaos, which /~ 
contained the I 
germs of all things. \. 
From this was 
evolved a race of 
heavenly beings and celestial " Kami" of whom Tzanagi, a male, 
and Izanami, a female, were the last individuals. Other authori- 
ties on Shinto maintain that infinite space and not chaos existed 
in the beginning ; others again that in the beginning there was 
one god. However, all agree as to the appearance on tlie scene 
of Izanagi and Izanami, and it is with these we are here con- 
cerned ; for by their union were produced the islands of Japan, 




JAPANESE GOD OF THUNDER. 



190 



JAPANESE ACCOUNTS OP THE CREATION. 



and among their children were Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and 
her younger brother, Susanoo, afterward appointed god of the 
sea. On account of her bright beauty the former was made 
queen of the sun, and had given to her a share on the govern- 
ment of the earth. To Ninigi-no-mikoto, her grandson, she 

afterward consign- 
ed absolute rule 
over the earth, 
sending him down 
by the floating 
bridge of heaven 
upon the summit 
of the mountain 
Kirishima-yama. 
He took with him 
the three Japanese 
regalia, the sacred 
mirror, now in one 
/-v,/'c^g^^^||||H^|^^^^_^^-^ of the Shinto 

- -^ZW^^^ftiiu^^^ikiai^S^i^^^R^ shrines of Ise; the 

V.. ^j :^.,S'&*5::^^B^^^^^^^K'^^2iiFVL>^^^ sword, now treas- 

^^^^^^^fflHHH^^ptt^^^ ured in the temple 

^^^_ \h ^Tft^^S^^^^^ilfi.))! Q^ Atsiita, near 

Nagoya; and the 
ball of rock crys- 
tal in possession 
of the emperor. 
On the accomplish- 
ment of the de- 
scent, the sun and 
the earth receded 
from one another, 
and communica- ; 
tion by means of 
the floating bridge ceased. Jimmu Tenno, the first historic 
emperor of Japan, was the great grandson of Ninigi-no-mikoto. 

According to the indigenous religion of Japan, therefore, a. 
religion which even since the adoption of western civilization haf 




JAPANESE GOD OF RIDING. 




JAPANESE PEASANTRY. 



SACREDNESS OF THE MIKADO. 193 

been patronized by the state, the mikados are directly descended 
from the sun goddess, the principal Shinto divinity. Having re- 
ceived from her the three sacred treasures, they are invested with 
authority to rule over Japan as long as the sun and moon shall 
endure. Their minds are in perfect harmony with hers ; there- 
fore they cannot err and must receive implicit obedience. Such 
is the traditional theory as to the position of the Japanese emperors, 
a theory which was advanced in its most elaborate form, as 
recently as the last century, by Motoori, a writer on Shinto, which 
of late years has no doubt -been much modified or even utterly 
discarded by many of the more enlightened among the people. 
Even yet, however, it is far from having been abandoned by the 
masses. 

The mikados being thus regarded as semi-divinities, it is not 
surprising that the very excess of veneration showed them tended 
more and more to weaken their actual power. They were too 
sacred to be brought much into contact with ordinary mortals, 
too sacred even to have their divine countenances looked upon by 
any but a select few. Latterly it was only the nobles immediately 
around him that ever saw the mikado's face ; others might be 
admitted to the imperial presence, but it was only to get a glimpse 
from behind a curtain of a portion of the imperial form, less or 
more according to their rank. When the mikado went out into 
the grounds of his palace in Kioto, matting was spread for him 
to walk upon ; when he left the palace precincts he was borne in 
a sedan chair, the blinds of which were carefully drawn down. 
The populace prostrated themselves as the procession passed, but 
none of them ever saw the imperial form. In short, the mikados 
ultimately became virtual prisoners. Theoretically gifted with 
all political knowledge and power, they were less the masters 
of their own actions than many of the humblest of their subjects. 
Although nominally the repositories of all authority, they had 
practically no share in the management of the national affairs. 
The isolation in which it was deemed proper that they should be 
kept, prevented them from acquiring the knowledge requisite for 
governing, and even had that knowledge been obtained, gave no 
opportunity for its manifestation. 

From the death of Jimmu Tenno to that of Kimmei. in whose 



194 THE REIGN OF THE GOOD SUJIN. 

reign Buddhism was introduced, A. D. 571, there were thirty 
niikados. During this period of one thousand three hundred and 
thirty -six years, believed to be historic by most Japanese, the most 
interesting subjects are the reforms of Sujin Tenno, the military 
expeditions to eastern Japan by Yamato-Dake, the invasion of 
Corea by the Empress Jingo Kogo, and the introduction of 
Chinese civilization and Buddhism. 

Sujin-or Shujin, B. C. 97-30, was a man of intense earnestness 
and piety. His prayers to the gods for the abatement of a plague 
were answered, and a revival of religious feeling and worship 
ensued. He introduced many forms in the practices of religion 
and the manners of life. He appninted his own daughter priestess 
of the shrine and custodian of the symbols of the three holy 
regalia, which had hitherto been kept in the palace of the mikado. 
This custom has continued to the present tiine, and the shrines of 
Uji in Ise, which now hold the sacred mirror, are always in charge 
of a virgin princess of imperial blood. 

The whole life of Sujin was one long effort to civilize his half 
savage subjects. He regulated taxes, established a periodical 
census, and encouraged the building of boats. He may also be 
called the father of Japanese agriculture, since he encouraged it 
by edict and example, ordering canals to be dug, water courses 
provided, and irrigation to be extensively carried on. 

The energies of this pious mikado were further exerted in de- 
vising a national military system whereby his peacably disposed 
subjects could be protected, and the extremities of his realm 
extended. The eastern and northern frontiers were exposed to 
tlie assaults of the wild tribes of Ainos, who were yet unsubdued. 
Between the peaceful agricultural inhabitants and the untamed 
savages a continual border war existed. A military division of 
the empire into four departments was made, and a shogun or 
general appointed over each. The half subdued inhabitants in 
the extremes of the realm needed constant watching, and seem to 
have been as restless and treacherous as the Indians on our own 
frontiers. The whole history of the extension and development 
of the mikado's empire is one of war and blood, rivalling that of 
our own country in its early struggles with the Indians. This 
constant military action and life in a camp resulted, in the course 



THE GREAT EMPRESS JINGO. 195 

of time, in the creation of a powerful and numerous military class, 
who made war professional and hereditary. It developed that 
military genius and character which so distinguish the modern 
Japanese and mark them in such strong contrast with other na- 
tions of eastern Asia. 

Towards the end of the first century A. D., Yamato-Dake, son 
of the emperor Keiko, reduced most of the Ainos of the north to 
submission. These savages fought much after the manner of the 
North American Indian, using their knowledge of woodcraft most 
effectually, but the young prince with a well equipped array em- 
barked on a fleet of ships and reaching their portion of tlie island, 
fought them until they were glad to surrender. 

It was in the third century that the Empress Jingo invaded and 
conquered Corea. In all Japanese tradition or history, there is 
no greater female character than this empress. She was equally 
renowned for her beauty, piety, intelligence, energy and martial 
valor. To this woman belongs the glory of the conquest of 
Corea, whence came letters, religion and civilization to Japan. 
Tradition is that it was directly commanded her b}^ the gods to 
cross the water and attack Corea. Her husband, the emperor, 
doubting the veracity of tliis message from the gods, was forbid- 
den by them any share in the enterprise. 

Jingo ordered her generals and captains to collect troops, build 
ships, and be ready to embark. She disguised herself as a man, 
proceeded with the recruiting of soldiers and the building of 
ships, and in the year 201 A. D. was ready to start. Before 
starting. Jingo issued these orders for her soldiers : " No loot. 
Neither despise a few enemies nor fear many. Give mercy to 
those who yield but no quarter to the stubborn. Rewards shall 
be apportioned to the victors, punishments shall be meted to the 
deserters." 

It was not very clear in the minds of these ancient filibusters 
where Corea was, or for what particular point of their horizon 
they were to steer. They had no chart or compass. The sun, 
stars and the flight of birds were their guide. None of them be- 
fore had ever known of the existence of such a countr}^ as Corea, 
but the same gods that had commanded tbe invasion protected 
the invaders, and in due time they landed in southern Corea. 



196 



INVASION AND CONQUEST OF COREA. 



The king of this part of the country had heard from his messen- 
gers of the coming of a strange fleet from the east, and terrified 
exclaimed, " We never knew there was any country outside of 
us. Have our gods forsaken us ? " 

It was a bloodless invasion, for there was no fighting to do. 
The Coreans came holding white flags and surrendered, offering 

to give up their treas- 
ures. They took an 
oath to become hostages 
and be tributary to 
Japan. Eighty ships 
well laden with gold 
and silver, articles oi 
wealth, silks and pre- 
cious goods of all kinds, 
and eighty hostages, 
men of high families, 
were given to the con- 
querors. The stay of 
the Japanese army in 
Corea was very brief, 
and the troops returned 
in two months. Jingo 
was, on her arrival, de- 
livered of a son, who in 
the popular estimation 
of gods and mortals 
holds even a higher 
place of honor than his 
mother, who is believed 
to have conquered 
southern Corea through 
the power of her yet 
unborn illustrious offspiing. The motive which induced the 
invasion into Corea seems to have been mere love of war and 
conquest, and the Japanese still refer with great pride to this, 
their initial exploit on foreign soil. 

The son O.iin. who became the emperor, was, after his death, 




JAPANESE GOD OF WAR. 




TOKIO— TYPES AND COSTUMES, 



CONTINENTAL CIVILIZATION REACHES JAPAN. 



199 



deified and worshipped as the god of war, Hachiman, and down 
through the centuries he has been worshiped by all classes of 
people, especially by soldiers, who offer their prayers and pay 
their vows to him. Ojin was also a man of literary tastes, and it 




JAPANESE MUSICIAN. 



was during his reign that Japan began to profit from the learning 
of the Coreans, who introduced the study of the Chinese lan- 
guage, and indeed the art of writing itself. During the immedi- 
ately succeeding centuries various emperors and empres!>es were 



200 CONTINENTAL CIVILIZATION EEACHES JAPAN. 



eminent for their zeal in encouraging the arts of peace. Archi- 
tects, painters, physicians, musicians, dancers, chronologists, arti- 
sans and fortune tellers were brought over from Corea to instruct 
the people, but not all of these came at once. Immigration was 
gradual, but the coming of so many immigrants brought new 
blood, ideas, methods and improvements. Japan received from 
China, through Corea, what she has been receiving from America 
and Europe for the last forty years — a new civilization. The 
records report the arrival of tailors in 283 and horses in 284 from 
Corea to Japan. In 285 a Corean scholar came to Japan, and re- 
siding at the court, instructed the mikado's son in writing. In 

462 mulberry trees 
were planted, to- 
getlier with the silk 
worm, for whose sus- 
tenance they were 
implanted, from 
China or Corea. And 
this marks the begin- 
ning of silk culture 
in Japan. When in 
552 the company of 
doctors, astronomers 
and mathematicians 
came from Corea to 
live at the Japanese 
court, they brought 
with them Buddhist missionaries, and this maybe called the intro- 
duction of continental civilization. Beginning with Jingo, there 
seems to have poured into the island empire a stream of immi- 
grants, skilled artisans, scholars and teachers, bringing arts, litera- 
ture and religion. This was the first of three great waves of 
foreign civilization in Japan. The first was from China, through 
Corea, in the sixth ; the second from western Europe in the fif- 
teenth century; the third was from America, Europe and the 
world, in the decade following the advent of Commodore Perry. 
In the eighth century, during the greater part of which the 
capital of the country was the city of Nara, about thirty miles 




JAPANESE SILK SPINNER. 



NOBLE FAMILIES BEGIN TO RISE, 201 

from Kioto, Japan had largely under the government of empresses 
reached a most creditable stage of progress in the arts of peace. 
Near the close of the eighth century the emperor Kuwammu took 
up his residence at Kioto, which until 1868 remained the capital 
of the country, and is even now dignified with the name of Saikiyo, 
or " Western Capital." Here he built a palace very unlike the 
simple dwelling in which his predecessors had been content to 
live. It had a dozen gates, and around it was reared a city with 
twelve hundred streets. The palace he named " the Castle of 
Peace," but for years it proved the very centre of the feuds which 
soon began to distract the country. This did not happen however 
until some centuries after the death of Kuwammu. But even 
after his time there were not wanting indications that the control 
of affairs was destined to slip into the hands of certain powerful 
families at the imperial court. 

The first family to rise into eminence was that of Fujiwara, a 
member of which it was that got Kuwammu placed upon the 
throne. For centuries the Fujiwaras controlled the civil affairs 
of the empire, but a more important factor in bringing about the 
reduction of the mikado's power and the establishment of that 
strange system of government which was destined to be so char- 
acteristic of Japan, was the rise into power of the rival houses of 
Taira and Minamoto, otherwise called respectfully Hei and Gen. 
This system of government has almost always been misunderstood 
in America and Europe. Two rulers in two capitals gave to for- 
eigners the impression that there were two emperors in Japan, an 
idea that has been incorporated into most of the text books, and 
encyclopedias of Christendom. Let it be clearly understood how- 
ever that there never was but one emperor in Japan, the mikado, 
who is and always was the only sovereign, though his measure of 
power has been very different at different times. Until the rise 
and domination of the military classes, he was in fact, as well as 
by law, supreme. 

With the feuds of Hei and Gen commences an entirely new era 

in the history of the country, an era replete with tales alike of 

bloodshed, intrigue and chivalry. We see the growth of a feudal 

system at least as elaborate as that of Europe, and strangely 

13 



202 BIRTH OF FAMILY FEUDS. 

enough, assuming almost identical forms, and that during the same 
period. 

The respective founders of the Taira and Miuamoto families 
were Taira Takamochi and Miuamoto Tsunemoto, two warriors 
of the tenth century. Their descendants were for generations 
military vassals of the mikado, and were distinguished by red and. 
white flags, colors which suggest the red and white roses of the 
rival English houses of Lancaster and York. For years the two 
houses served the emperor faithfully; but even before any 
quarrel had arisen between them, the popularity of the head of 
the Miuamoto clan, with the soldiers with whom he had been 
placed, so alarmed the emperor Toba (1108-1124, A. D.) that he 
issued an edict forbidding the Samurai, the military class, of any 
of the provinces, from constituting themselves the retainers of 
either of these two families. 

It was in the year 1156 that the feuds between the two houses 
broke out, and it arose in this way. At the accession of Go-Shir- 
akawa to the throne in that year, there were living two ex-em- 
perors who would seem to have voluntarily abdicated ; one of them, 
however, Shutoku, was averse to the accession of the heir, being 
himself anxious to resume the imperial power. His cause was es- 
poused by Tameyoshi, the head of the Minamoto house, while 
among the supporters of Go-Shirakawa was Kiyomori, of the house 
of Taira. In the conflict which followed, Go-Shirakawa was success- 
ful, and immediately thereafter we find Taira Kiyomori appointed 
Daijo-Daijin, or prime minister, with practically all political power 
in his hands. On the abdication within a few years of the mikado, 
the prime minister was able to put whatever member of the im- 
perial house he willed upon the throne; and being himself allied 
by marriage to the imperial family, he at length saw the accession 
of his own grandson, a mere babe. Thus, to use the term con- 
nected with European feudalism of the same period, the mayor of 
the palace virtually, though not nominally, usurped the imperial 
functions. The emperor had the name of power but Kiyomori 
had the reality. 

But this state of matters was not destined to last long. The 
Minamotos were far from being finally quieted. The story of 
the revival of their power is a romantic one, but we cannot dwell 



ROMANCE AND HISTORY COMBINED. 203 

upon it. It was in the battle of Atiji that Kiyomori seemed at 
length to have quelled his rivals. Yoshitomo, the head of the 
Miuaraoto clan was slain in the fight, but his beautiful wife 
Tokiwa succeeded in escaping with her three little sons. 
Tokiwa's mother, however, was arrested. This roused the 
daughter to make an appeal to Kiyomori for pardon. She did 
so, presenting herself and children to the conqueror, upon whom 
her beauty so wrought that he granted her petition. He made 
her his concubine, and not withstanding the remonstrances of his 
retainers, also spared the children who were sent to a monastery, 
there to be trained for the priesthood. Two of these children 
became famous in the history of Japan. The eldest was 
Yoritomo the founder of the Karaakura dynasty of shoguns, and 
the babe at the mother's breast was Yoshitsune, one of the 
flowers of Japanese chivalry, a hero whose name even yet 
awakens the enthusiasm of the youth of Japan and who so im- 
pressed the Ainos of the north whom he had been sent to subdue, 
that to this day he is worshiped as their chief god. A Japanese 
has even lately written a book in which he seeks to identify 
Yoshitsune with Genghis Khan. 

It is unnecessary to dwell on the circumstances which brought 
Yoritomo and Yoshitsune into note ; how the two brothers raised 
the men of the eastern provinces, and after a temporary check at 
the pass of Hakone, succeeded in utterly routing the Taira 
forces in a dreadful battle, half by land and half by sea, at the 
straits of Shimonoseki. Suffice it to say, that Yoshitsune having 
been slain soon after a famous victory, through the treachery of 
his brother Yoritomo, who was jealous of his fame and popu- 
larity, that warrior was left without a rival. Yoritomo received 
from the emperor the highest title which could be conferred 
upon him, that of Sei-i-tai-shoguu, literally "Barbarian-subjuga- 
ting great general." This title is generally contracted to shogun, 
which means simply general. Thus appointed generalissimo of 
all the imperial forces, he looked about for a city which he might 
make the center of his power. This he found in Kamakura about 
fifteen miles westward of the site of the modern Yokohama. 

Thus before the close of the twelfth century was founded that 
system of dual government which lasted with little change until 



204 ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM OF DUAL GOVERNMENT. 

the year 1868. The Mikado reigned in Kioto with the authority 
of his sacred person undisputed; but the shogun in his eastern 
city had really all the public business of the country in his own 
hands. It was he who appointed governors over the different 
provinces and was the real master of the country ; but every act 
was done in the name of the emperor whose nominal power thus 
remained intact. 

Yoritomo virtually founded an independent dynasty at 
Kamakura, but it was not destined to be a lasting one. His son 
Yoriye succeeded him in 1199, but was shortly afterwards 
deposed and assassinated ; and the power though not the title of 
shogun passed to the family of Yoritomo's wife, that of Hojo, 
different members of which swayed the state for more than a 
century. 

After a checkered career of various shoguns of the Hojo 
family, their tyranny became supreme. None of the family ever 
seized the office of shogun, but in reality they wielded all and 
more of the power attaching to the office. The political history 
of these years is but that of a monotonous recurrence of the 
exaltation of boys and babies of noble blood to whom was given 
the semblance of power, who were sprinkled with titles and 
deposed as soon as they were old enough to be troublesome. In 
an effort made by the ex-emperor Gotoba to drive the usurping 
Hojo from power the chains were riveted tighter than ever. 
The imperial troops were massacred by the conquering Hojo. 
The estates of all who fought on the emperor's side were con- 
fiscated and distributed among the minions of the usurpers. The 
exiled emperor died of a broken heart. The nominal Mikado of 
Kioto and the nominal shogun at Kamakura were set up, but the 
Hojo were the keepers of both. The oppression, the neglect of 
public business and the carousals of the usurpers became intoler- 
able. Armies were raised spontaneously to support the emperor 
and the Ashikaga leader in their revolt against the existing evils. 
All over the empire the people rose against their oppressors and 
massacred them. The Hojo domination which had been par™ 
amount for nearly one hundred and fifty years was utterly- 
broken. 

The Hojo have never been forgiven for their arbitrary treatment 



OPPRESSIONS OF THE USURPING HOJOS. 



205 



of the Mikados. Every obloquy is cast upon them by Japanese 
historians, dramatists, poets and novelists, and yet there is an- 
other side to the story. It must be conceded that the Hojos were 
able rulers and kept order and peace in the empire for more than 
a century. They encouraged literature and the cultiviition of the 
arts and sciences. During their period the resources of the 
country were developed, and some branches of useful handicraft 
and fine arts were brought to a perfection never since surpassed. 
To this time belongs the fa- 
mous image carver, sculptor 
and architect, Unkei, and the 
lacquer artists who are the 
"old masters" in this branch 
of art. The military spiiit 
of the people was kept alive, 
tactics were improved, and 
the methods of governmental 
administration simplified. 
During this period of splen- 
did temples, monasteries, 
pagodas, colossal images and 
other monuments of holy 
zeal, Hojo Sadatoki erected a 
monument over the grave of 
Kiyomori at Hiogo. Hojo 
Tokimune raised and kept in 
readiness a permanent war 
fund so that the military ex- 
penses might not interfere 
with the revenue reserved 
for ordinary government expenses. To his invincible courage, 
patriotic pride, and indomitable energy are due the vindication of 
the national honor and the repulse of the Tartar invasion. 

During the early centuries of the Christian era, Japan and 
China kept up friendly intercourse, exchanging embassies on vari- 
ous missions, but chiefly with the mutual object of bearing con- 
gratulations to an emperor upon his accession to the throne. The 
civil disorders iu botli countries interrupted these friendly rela- 




COLOSSAL .JAPANESE IMAGE FIFTY FEET 
HIGH. 



206 FRIENDSHIP OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 

tions in the twelfth century, and communication ceased. When 
the acquaintance was renewed in the time of the Hojo it was not 
on so friendly a footing. 

In China the Mongol Tartars had overthrown the Sung dynasty 
and had conquered the adjacent country. Through the Coreans 
the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan, at whose court Marco Polo 
and his uncles were then visiting, sent letters demanding tribute 
and homage from Japan. Chinese envoys came to Kamakura, 
but Hojo Tokimune, enraged at the insolent demands, dismissed 
them in disgrace. Six embassies were sent, and six times re- 
jected. An expedition from China consisting of ten thousand 
men was then sent against Japan. They landed, were attacked, 
their commander was slain, and they returned, having accom- 
plished nothing. The Chinese emperor now sent nine envoys to 
announce their purpose to remain until a definite answer was re- 
turned to their master. They were called to Kamakura, and the 
Japanese reply was given by cutting off their heads. The Jap- 
anese now began to prepare for war on land and sea. Once more 
Chinese envoys came to demand tribute. These were decapi- 
tated. Meanwhile the armada was preparing. Great China was 
coming to crush the little strip of land that refused homage to the 
invincible conqueror. The army numbered one hundred thousand 
Chinese and Tartars, and seven thousand Coreans in ships that 
whitened the sea. They numbered three thousand five hundred 
in all. It was in July, 1281, that the sight of the Chinese junks 
greeted the watchers on the hills of Daizaifu. Many of the junks 
were of immense proportion, larger than the natives of Japan had 
ever seen, and armed with the engines of European warfare which 
their Venetian guests had taught the Mongols to construct and 
work. The naval battle that ensued was a terrible one. The 
Japanese had small chance of success in the water, owing to the 
smallness of their boats, but in personal valor they were much 
superior, and some of their deeds of bravery are inspiringly inter- 
esting. Nevertheless the Cliinese were unable to effect a landing, 
owing to the heavy fortifications along the shore. 

The whole nation was now roused. Re-enforcements poured in 
from all quarters to swell the hosts of defenders. From the mon- 
asteries and temples all over the country went up unceasing 




'# 




m 









JAPANESE FEMALE 'lYPES. 



JAPAN REFUSES TRIBUTE TO CHINA. 



209 



prayer to the gods to ruin their enemies and save the land of 
Japan. The emperor and ex-emperor went in solemn state to the 




SHINTO TEMPLE. 



chief priest of Shinto, and writing out their petitions to the gods 
sent him as a messenger to the shrines of Ise. It is recorded as a 



210 INVASION AND DEFEAT OF THE CHINESE. 

miraculous fact that at the hour of noon as the sacred envoy 
arrived at the shrine and offered a prayer, the day being perfectly 
clear, a streak of cloud appeared in the sky that soon overspread 
the heavens, until the dense masses portended a storm of awful 
violence. One of those cyclones called by the Japanese tai-fu, of 
appalling velocity and resistless force, such as whirl along the 
coast of Japan and China during late summer and early fall of 
every year, burst upon the Chinese fleet. Nothing can withstand 
these maelstorms of the air. We call them typhoons. Iron steam- 
ships of thousands of horse power are almost unmanageable in 
them. The helpless Chinese junks were crushed together, impaled 
on the rocks, dashed against the cliffs or tossed on land like corks 
on the spray. Hundreds of the vessels sank. The corpses were 
piled on the shore or floating on the water so thickly that it 
seemed almost possible to walk thereon. The vessels of the sur- 
vivors in large numbers drifted or were wrecked upon Taka 
island, where they established themselves and cutting down trees 
began building boats to reach Corea. Here they were attacked 
by the Japanese, and after a bloody struggle, all the fiercer for the 
despair on the one side and the exultation on the other, were all 
slain or driven to the sea to be drowned except three, who were 
sent back to tell their emperor how the gods of Japan had de- 
stroyed their armada. 

This was the last time that China ever attempted to conquer 
Japan, whose people boast that their land has never been defiled 
by an invading army. They have ever ascribed the glory of the 
destruction of the Tartar fleet to the interposition of the gods of 
Ise, who thereafter received special and grateful adoration as the 
guardian of the seas and the winds. Great credit and praise were 
given to the Lord of Kamakura, Hojo Tokimune, for his energy, 
ability and valor. The author of one native history says, " The 
repulse of the Tartar barbarians by Tokimune and his preserving 
the dominions of our Son of Heaven were sufficient to atone for 
the crimes of his ancestors." 

Nearly six centuries afterward when " the barbarian " Perry 
anchored his fleet in the bay of Yeddo, in the words of the native 
annalist, " Orders were sent by the imperial court to the Shinto 
priest at Ise to offer up prayers for the sweeping away of the bar- 



RULE OF THE ASHIKAGA FAMILY. 211 

harians." Millions of earnest hearts put up the same prayers theii 
fathers had offered full}^ expecting the same result. 

To this day the Japanese mother hushes her fretful infant by 
the question, "Do you think the Mongols are coming?" This is 
the only serious attempt at invasion ever made by any nation upon 
the shores of Japan. 

The internal his- 
tory of Japan dur- 
ing the period of 
time covered by 
the actual or nom-^ 
inal rule of the 
Ashikaga family, 
from 1336 until 
1578, except the 
very last years of 
it, is not very at- 
tractive to a for- 
eign reader. It is 
a confused picture 
of intestinal war. 
It was by foul 
means that Ashi-> 
kaga Takugi, one 
of the generals who 
overthrew the 
Hojos, attained the 
dignity of shogun, 
and a period of 
more than two 
centuries, during 

' f JAPANESE GOD OF THE WIND. 

which his descend- 
ants held sway at Kamakura, was cliaracterized by treachery, 
bloodshed and almost perpetual warfare. The founder of this 
line secured the favor of the mikado Go-Daigo, after he was re- 
called from exile, upon the overthrow of the military usurpation. 
Ashikaga soon seized the reins in his own hands. The mikado 
fled in terror, and a new mikado was declared in the person of 




212 RISE AND PERFECTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 



another of the royal family. Of course this man was willing to 
confer upon Ashikaga, his supporter the title of shogun. Kania- 
kura again became a military capital. The duarchy was restored, 
and the war of the northern and southern dynasties began, to last 
fifty-six years. 

The act by which more than any other the Ashikagas earned 
the curses of posterity, was the sending of an embassy to China in 
1401, bearing presents, acknowledging in a measure the authority 
of China, and accepting in return 
the title of Nippon O, or king of 
Japan. This which was done by 
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third of 
the line, was an insult to the 
national dignity for which he has 
never been forgiven. It was a 
needless humiliation of Japan to 
her arrogant neighbor and done 
only to exalt the vanity and glory 
of the usurper, who, not content 
,with adopting the style and equip- 
age of the mikado, wished to be 
called a king and yet dared not 
usurp the imperial throne. 
, / , . Japan of all the Asiatic nations 

^''/v; , seems to have brought the feudal 
system to the highest state of per- 
fection. While in Europe the na- 
tions were engaged in throwing 
off the feudal yoke and inaugurat- 
ing modern government, Japan 
was riveting the fetters which stood intact until 1871. The 
daimios were practically independent chieftains, who ruled their 
own provinces as they willed ; and the more ambitious and power- 
ful did not hesitate to make war upon the neighboring clans. 
There were on all sides struggles for pre-eminence in which the 
fittest survived, annexing to their own territories those of the 
weaker class which they had subdued. Nor was it merely rival 
clans that were disturbing the country. The Buddhist clergy 




DAIMIOS OF JAPAN. 












SKETCH SHOWING DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE ARMY 
FROM 1867 TO THE PRESENT. 



RISE AND PERFECTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 215 

had acquired immense political influence, which they were far 
from scrupulous in using. Their monasteries were in many cases 
castles, from which themselves living amid every kind of luxury. 




BUDDHIST PRIESTS. 



they tyrannized over the surrounding country. The history of 
these often reads strikingly like that of the corresponding insti- 
tutions in Europe during the middle ages; indeed the hierarchical 



216 THREE GREAT MEN ANP THEIR CAREERS. 

as well as the feudal development of Europe and Japan have 
been wonderfully alike. 

Probably the three names most renowned in Japan are No- 
bunaga, Hideyoshi and lyeyasu. The second and third of these 
were generals subordinate to the first, who deposed the Ashikaga 
shoguns, persecuted the Buddhists, encouraged the Jesuits, and 
restored to a great extent the supremacy of the mikado. The 
Buddhists look on this leader as an incarnate demon sent to de- 
stroy their faith. He was a Shintoist, with bitter hatred for the 
Buddhists, and never lost an opportunity to burn property of his 
enemies or butcher priests, women, and children of that faith. 
These who have just been named, by their prowess and the 
strength of their armies, rose to highest positions among the dai- 
mios. 

When these three great men appeared, the country was in a 
most critical state. The later Ashikaga shoguns had become as 
powerless "as the mikado himself in the management of affairs. 
Nobunaga first rose into note. By successive victories, he became 
ruler of additional provinces, and his fame became so great that 
the emperor committed to him the task of tranquilizing the 
country. He deposed first one usurping shogun and then another, 
and thus came an end to the domination of the Ashikagas. No- 
bunaga was now the most powerful man in the country, and was 
virtually discharging the duties of shogun though he never ob- 
tained the title. Hideyoshi became virtual lord of the empire, 
after the assassination of Nobunaga. He rose from the ranks of 
the peasants to the highest position in Japan under the emperor. 
Having in connection with Nobunaga and lyeyasu reduced all the 
Japanese clans into subjection, he looked abroad for some foreign 
power to subdue. 

The immoderate ambition of Hideyoshi's life was to conquer 
Corea, and even China. Under the declining power of Ashikaga, 
all tribute from Curea had ceased and the pirates who ranged the 
coasts scarcely allowed any trade to exist. We have seen how it 
was from Corea that Japan received Chinese learning and the arts 
of civilization, and Coreans swelled the number of Mongol Tar- 
tars who invaded Japan with the armada. On the other hand 
Corea was more than once overrun by Japanese armies, even 



CONQUEST OF COREA BY HIDEYOSHI. 217 

partly governed by Japanese officials, and on different occasions 
had to pay tribute to Japan in token of submission. Japanese 
pirates too were for six hundred years as much the terror of the 
Chinese and Corean costs as were the Danes and Norsemen of the 
shores of the North Sea. The discontinuance of the embassies 
and tribute from Corea, thus afforded the ambitious general a pre- 
text for disturbing the friendly relations with Corea, by the dis- 
patch of an embassador to complain of this neglect. The behav- 
ior of this embassador only too clearly reflected the swagger of 
his overbearing lord, and the consequence was an invasion of 
Corea. 

Hideyoshi promised to march his generals and army to Peking, 
and divide the soil of China among them. He also scorned the 
suggestion that scholars versed in Chinese should accompany the 
expedition. Said he, " This expedition will make the Chinese use 
our literature." Corea was completely overrun by Hideyoshi's 
forces, although the commander himself was unable to accompany 
the expedition, owing to his age and the grief of his mother. 
Further details of this invasion will be found later in the histori- 
cal sketch of Corea. It may be said here however, that the con- 
quest terminated ingloriously, and reflects no honor on Japan. 
The responsibility of the outrage upon a peaceful nation rests 
wholly upon Hideyoshi. The Coreaus were a mild and peaceable 
people, wholly unprepared for war. There was scarcely a shadow 
of provocation for the invasion, which was nothing less than a 
huge filibustering scheme. It was not popular with the people or 
the rulers, and was only carried through by the will of the mili- 
tary leader. The sacrifice of life on either side must have been 
great, and all for the ambition of one man. Nevertheless, a party 
in Japan has long held that Corea was by the conquests of the 
third and sixteenth centuries a part of the Japanese empire, and 
the reader will see how 1772 and again in 1775 the cry of " On to 
Corea " shook the nation like an earthquake. 

After the deaths of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, Tokugawa lyey- 
asu was left the virtual ruler of Japan. At first he governed the 
country as regent, but his increasing popularity awoke the jeal- 
ousy of the partisans of Hideyori, the son of Hideyoshi, who was 
nominated as his successor, as well as of Nobunaga's family. 
14 



218 YEDDO BECOMES THE SEAT OF THE SHOGUN. 

These combined to overthrow him, and the consequence was the 
great battle of Sekigahara, fought in 1600, in which lyeyasu came 
off completely victorious. Three years later, he was appointed 
by the emperor shogun. Like Yorotomo he resolved to select a 
city as the center of his power, and that which seemed to him 
most suitable was not Kamakura, which ere this had lost much of 
its glory, but the little castle town of Yeddo, about thirty-five 
miles farther north. Here he and his successors, and the dynasty 
he founded, swayed the destinies of Japan from 1603 until the 
restoration in 1868. 




JAPANESE JUNK. 



It is not difficult to account for the tone of admiration and 
pride with which a modern Japanese speaks of " The age of 
Taiko." There are many who hold that Hideyoshi, or Taiko, 
was the real unifier of the empire. Certain it is that he origi- 
nated many of the most striking forms of national administra- 
tion. In his time the arts and sciences were not only in a very 
flourishing condition, but gave promise of rich development. The 
spirit of military enterprise and internal national improvement 
was at its height. Contact with the foreigners of many nations 
awoke a spirit of inquiry and intellectual activity ; but it was on 



M^P' 



if 



li 



3 i 




iiiiiiilli 



POSITION OF JAPAN AT THIS PEEIOD. 



221 



the seas that genius and restless activity found their most con- 
genial field. 

This era is marked by the highest production in marine archi- 
tecture, and the extent and variety of commercial enterprise. 
The ships built in this century were twice the size and vastly the 
superior in model of the junks that now hug the Japanese shores 
or ply between China and Japan. The pictures of them pre- 




INDUSTRIAL LIFE. {From a Japanese Album.) 



served to the present day, show that they were superior in size to 
the vessels of Columbus, and nearly equal in sailing qualities to 
the contemporary Dutch and Portuguese galleons. They were 
provided with ordnance, and a model of a Japanese breech-load- 
ing cannon is still preserved in Kioto. Ever a brave and adven- 
turous people, the Japanese then roamed the seas with a freedom 



222 POSITION OF JAPAN AT THIS PERIOD. 

that one who knows only of the modern bound people would 
scarcely credit. Voyages of trade, discovery or piracy have been 
made to India, Siam, Birmah, the Philippine Islands, Soutliern 
China, the Malay Archipelago and the Kuriles, even in the fif- 
teenth century, but were more numerous ia the sixteenth. The 
Japanese literature contains many references to these adventur- 
ous sailors, and when the records of the far east are thoroughly 
investigated, and this subject fully studied, very interesting re- 
sults are apt to be obtained showing the widespread influence of 
Japan at a time when she was scarcely known by the European 
world to have existence. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH FROM THE COMING OF THE 

FIRST EUROPEAN TRAVELERS TO THE 

PRESENT TIME. 



A New Dynasty of Slioguns— MendBZ Pinto's Visit— Arrival of the Jesuit Missionaries- 
Kind Recei)lion of Cluistianity— Quarrels Between tlie Sects— Beginning of Christian Per- 
secution—Expulsion of the Missionaries— Torture and Martyrdom— The Massacre of Shim, 
abara— Expulsion of all Foreigners— Closing tlie Door of Japan— History of the Last Sho- 
gunate— Arrival of Commodore Perry's Fleet— Tlie Knock at the Door of Japan— An Era of 
Treaty Malung— Rapid Advance of Western Manners and Ideas in Japan— Attacks on For. 
eigners— The Abolition of tlie Shogunate— Japan's Last Quarter Century. 

Hitherto we have seen two readily distinguishable periods in 
tlie history of Japan, the period during which the mikados were 
the actual as well as the nominal rulers of the empire ; and the 
period during which the imperial power more and more passed 
into the hands of usurping mayors of the palace, and the country 
was kept in an almost constant ferment with the feuds of rival 
noble families which coveted this honor. Successively the 
power, although not always the title, of shogun, had been held 
by members of the Minamoto, Hojo, Ashikaga, Ota and Toyo- 
tomi families. With lyeyasu we pass into a third period, like the 
second in that the dual system of feudal government still pre- 
vailed, but unlike it in that it was a period of peace. Much 
strife had accompanied the erection of the fabric of feudalism, 
but it now stood complete. The mikado in Kioto and the 
daimios in their different provinces, alike ceased to protest 
against the dual administration. Within certain limits they had 
the regulation of their own affairs; the mikado was ever rec- 
ognized as the source of all authority, and the daimios in their 
own provinces were petty kings ; but it was the shogun in Yeddo 
who, undisputed, at least in practice, whatever some of the more 
powerful daimios may have said, swayed the destinies of the em- 
pire. 

Let us now note the policy which the Shoguns adopted towards 
the foreigners who as missionaries or merchants had found their 

(223) 



224 THE BEGINNINGS OF EXPLORATION". 

way to Japan, and the course of settlement and trade of 
foreigners. 

It seems now certain that when Columbus set sail from Spain 
to discover a new continent, it was not America he was seeking, 
but the land of Japan. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler, had 
spent seventeen years, 1275-1292, at the court of the Tartar 
emperor Kublai Khan, and while in Peking had heard of a land 
lying to the eastward, called in the language of the Chinese, Zip- 
angu, from which our modern name Japan has been corrupted. 
Columbus was an ardent student of Polo's book, which had been 
published in 1298. He sailed westward across the Atlantic to 
find this kingdom. He discovered not Japan, but an archipehago 
in America on whose shores he eagerly inquired concerning Zip- 
angu. Following this voyage, Vasco de Gama and a host of 
other brave Portuguese navigators sailed into the Orient and 
came back to tell of densely populated empires enriched with the 
wealth that makes civilization possible, and of which Europe had 
scarcely heard. Their accounts fired the hearts of the zealous 
who longed to convert the heathen, aroused the cupidity of 
traders who thirsted for gold, and kindled the desire of monarchs 
to found empires in Asia. 

Mendez Pinto, a Portuguese adventurer, seems to have been 
the first European who landed on Japanese soil. On his return 
to Europe he told so many wonderful stories that by a pun on 
his Christian name he was dabbed " tlie mendacious." His nar- 
rative was, liowever, as we now know, substantially correct. 
Pinto while in China had got on board a Chinese junk, com- 
manded by a pirate. They were attacked by another corsair, their 
pilot was killed, and the vessel was driven off the coast by a 
storm. They made for the Liu Kiu Islands, but unable to find a 
harbor, put to sea again. After twenty-three days' beating 
about, they sighted the islands of Tanegashima and landed. The 
name of the island, " island of the seed," was significant. The 
arrival of these foreigners was a seed of troubles innumerable. 
The crop was priestcraft of the worst type, political intrigue, re- 
ligious persecution, the inquisition, the slave trade, the propaga- 
tion of Christianity by the sword, sedition, rebellion, and civil war. 
Its harvest was garnered in the blood of sixty-thousand Japanese. 



FIRST ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS IN JAPAN. 225 

The native histories recount the first arrival of Europeans in 
1542, and note that year as the one in which fire-arms were first 
introduced. The pirate trader who brought Pinto to Japan 
cleared twelve hundred per cent, on his cargo, and the three Por- 
tuguese returned to China loaded with presents. The new 
market attracted hundreds of Portuguese adventurers to Japan, 
who found a ready welcome. The missionary followed the mer- 
chant. Already the Portuguese priests and Franciscan friars 
were numerous in India. Two Jesuits and two Japanese who 
had been converted at Goa, headed by Xavier, landed at 
Kagoshima in 1549. Xavier did not have great success, and in a 
short time left Japan disheartened. He had, however, inspired 
others who followed him, and their success was amazingly great. 

The success ©f the Jesuit missionaries soon attracted the 
attention of the authorities. Organ tin, a Jesuit missionary in 
Kioto, writing of his experiences, says that he was asked his name 
and why he had come to Japan. He replied that he was the 
Padre Organtin and had come to spread religion. He was told 
that he could not be allowed at once to spread his religion, but 
would be informed later on. Nobunaga accordingly took counsel 
with his retainers as to whether he would allow Christianity to be 
preached or not. One of these strongly advised not to do so, on 
the ground that there were already enough religions in the coun- 
try, but Nobunaga replied that Buddhism had been introduced 
from abroad and had done good in the country, and he therefore 
did not see why Christianity should not be granted a trial. 
Organtin was consequently allowed to erect a church and to 
send for others of his order, who, when they came, were found 
to be like him in appearance. Their plan of action was to care 
for the sick, and so prepare the way for the reception of Christi- 
anity, and then to convert every one and make the thirty-six pro- 
vinces of Japan subject to Portugal. In this last clause we have 
an explanation of the policy which the Japanese government 
ultimately adopted towards Christianity and all foreign innova- 
tions. Within five years after Xavier visited Kioto, seven 
churches were established in the vicinity of the city itself, while 
scores of Christian communities had sprung up in the south-west, 



226 RAPID PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 

In 1581 there were two hundred churches and one hundred and 
fifty thousand native Christians. 

In 1583 an embassy of four young noblemen was dispatched by 
the Christian daimios to the pope to declare themselves vassals 
of the Holy See. They returned after eight years, having had au- 
dience of Phillip II. of Spain, and kissed the feet of the pope at 
Rome. They brought with them seventeen Jesuit missionaries, 
an important addition to the list of religious instructors. Spanish 
mendicant friars from the Philippine Islands, with Dominicans 
and Augustinians, also flocked into the country, teaching and 
zealously proselyting. The number of " Christians " at the time 
of the highest success of the missionaries in Japan was, according 
to their own figures six hundred thousand, a number that seems 
to be no exaggeration if quantity and not quality are considered. 
The Japanese less accurately set down a total of two million 
nominal adherents to the Christian sects. Among the converts 
were several princes, large numbers of lords, and gentlemen in 
high official positions, and beside generals of the army and 
admirals of the navy. Churches and chapels were numbered by 
the thousand, and in some provinces crosses and Christian shrines 
were as numerous as the kindred evidences of Buddhism had 
been before. The methods of the Jesuits appealed to the 
Japanese, as did the forms and symbols of the faith, but the 
Jesuits began to attack most violently the character of the native 
priests, and to incite their converts to insult their gods, burn the 
idols and desecrate the old shrines. 

As the different orders, Jesuits, Franciscans and Augustinians 
increased, they began to clash. Political and religious war was 
almost universal in Europe at the same time, and the quarrels of 
the various nationalities followed the buccaneers, pirates, traders 
and missionaries to the distant seas of Japan. All the foreigners, 
but especially Portuguese, then were slave traders, and thousands 
of Japanese were bought and sold and shipped to China and the 
Philippines. The sea ports of Hirado and Nagasaki were the 
resorts of the lowest class of adventurers of all European nations, 
and the result was a continuous series of uproars, broils and 
murders among the foreigners. Such a picture of foreign influ- 
ence and of Christianity as the Japanese saw it was not calcu- 



FRIGHTFUL PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS. 227 

lated to make a pei-manently favorable impression on the Japanese 
mind. 

Latterly Nobunaga had somewhat repented of the favor he had 
shown to the new religion, though his death occurred before his 
dissatisfaction had manifested itself in any active repression- 
Hideyoshi had never been well disposed to Christianity, but other 
matters prevented him from at once meddling with the policy of 
his predecessors. In 1588 he ventured to issue an edict com- 
manding the missionaries to assemble at Hirado, an island off the 
west coast of Kiushiu and prepared to leave Japan, and the 
missionaries obeyed, but as the edict was not enforced they again 
returned to the work of evangelization in private as vigorously as 
ever, averaging ten thousand converts a year. The Spanish 
mendicant friars pouring in from the Philippines, openly defied 
Japanese laws. This aroused Hideyoshi's attention and his decree 
of expulsion was renewed. Some of the churches were burned. 
In 1596 six Franciscan and three Jesuit priests with seventeen 
Japanese converts were taken to Nagasaki and there burned. 

When Hideyoshi died, affairs seemed to take a more favorable 
turn, but only for a few years. lyeyasu was as much opposed 
to Christianity as Hideyoshi, and his hatred of the new religion 
was intensified by his partiality for Buddhism. Tlie new 
daimios, carrying the policy of their predecessors as taught them 
by the Jesuits, but reversing its direction, began to persecute their 
Christian subjects, and to compel them to renounce their faith. 
The native converts resisted, even to blood and the taking up of 
arms. The idea of armed rebellion among the farmers was some- 
thing so wholly new that lyeyasu suspected foreign instigation. 
He became more vigilant as his suspicions increased, and resolving 
to crush this spirit of independence and intimidate the foreign 
emissaries, met every outbreak with bloody reprisals. 

lyeyasu issued a decree of expulsion against the missionaries in 
1600, but the decree was not at once carried into effect. The 
date of the first arrival in Japan of Dutch merchants was also 
1600. They settled in the island of Hirado. In 1606 an edict 
from Yeddo forbade the exercise of the Christian religion, but an 
outward show of obedience warded off active persecution. Four 
years later the Spanish friars again aroused the wrath of the 



228 HORRORS OF THE PERSECUTIOIf. 

government by defying its commands and exhorting the native con- 
verts to do likewise. In 1611 lyeyasu obtained documentary proof 
of what he had long suspected, the existence of a plot on the part 
of the native converts and the foreign emissaries to reduce Japan to 
the position of a subject state. Fresh edicts were issued, and in 
1614 twenty-two Franciscan, Dominican and Augustinian friars, 
one hundred and seventeen Jesuits and hundreds of native priests 
were embarked by force on board junks and sent out of the 
country. The next year the shogun pushed matters to an ex- 
treme with Hideyuri, who was entertaining some Jesuit priests, 
and laid siege to the castle of Ozaka. A battle of unusual 
ferocity and bloody slaughter raged, ending in the burning of the 
citadel and the total defeat and death of Hideyori and thou- 
sands of his followers. The Jesuit fathers say that one hundred 
thousand men perished in this brief war. 

The exiled foreign friars kept secretly returning, and the shogun 
pronounced sentence of death against any foreign priest found 
in the country. lyemitsu, the next shogun, restricted all foreign 
commerce in Nagasaki and Hirado ; all Japanese were forbidden 
to leave the country on pain of death. Any European vessel 
approaching the coast was at once to be referred to Nagasaki, 
whence it was to be sent home ; the whole crew of any junk in 
which a missionary should reach Japanese shores were to be put 
to death; and the better to remove all temptation to go abroad, 
it was decreed that no ships should be constructed above a cer- 
tain size and with other than the open sterns of coasting vessels. 

Fire and sword were used to extirpate Christianity and to 
paganize the same people who in their youth were Christianized 
by the same means. Thousands of the native converts fled to 
China, Formosa and the Philippines. The Christians suffered all 
sorts of persecutions and tortures that savage ingenuity could devise. 
Yet few of the natives quailed or renounced their faith. They 
calmly let the fire of wood, cleft from the crosses before which 
they once prayed consume, them. Mothers carried their babes to 
the fire or the edge of the precipice rather than leave them behind 
to be educated in pagan faith. If any one doubt the sincerity 
and fervor of the Christian converts of to-day, or the ability of 
the Japanese to accept a higher form of faith, or their willingnesa 



THE SIEGE AND MASSACRE OF SHIMABARA. 231 

to suffer for what they believe, he has but to read the accounts of 
various witnesses to tlie fortitude of the Japanese Christians of 
the seventeenth century. 

The persecution reached its climax in the tragedy of Shima- 
bara in 1637. The Christians arose in arms by tens of thousands, 
seized an old castle, repaired it and fortified it, and raised the flag 
of rebellion. The armies of veterans sent to besiege it expected 
an easy victory, and sneered at the idea of having any difficulty in 
subduing these farmers and peasants. It took two months by 
land and water, however, of constant attack before the fort was 
reduced, and the victory was finally gained only with the aid of 
Dutch cannon furnished under compulsion by the traders of 
Deshima. After great slaughter the intrepid garrison surrend- 
ered, and then began the massacre of thirty-seven thousand 
Christians. Many of them were hurled into the sea from the top 
of the island rock of Takaboko-shima, by the Dutch named 
Pappenberg, in the harbor of Nagasaki. 

The result of this series of events was that the favorable policy 
adopted by lyeyasu in regard to foreign trade was completely 
reversed. No foreigners were allowed to set foot on the soil of 
Japan, except Cliinese and a few Dutch merchants. The Dutch 
gained the privilege of residing in confinement on the little island 
of Deshima, a piece of made land in the harbor of Nagasaki. 
Here under degrading restrictions and constant surveillance lived 
less than a score of Hollanders, who were required every year 
to send a representative to Yeddo to do homage to the shogun. 
They were allowed one ship per annum to come from the Dutch 
East Indies for the exchange of the commodities of Japan for 
those of Holland. 

Says Doctor GrifQs in his study of this era of Japanese history, 
"After nearly a hundred years of Christianity and foreign inter- 
course, the only apparent results of this contact with another 
religion and civilization were the adoption of gunpowder and 
fire-arms as weapons, the use of tobacco and the habit of smok- 
ing, the making of sponge cake, the naturalization into the lan- 
guage of a few foreign words, the introduction of new and 
strange forms of disease, among which tlie Japanese count the 
scourge of the venereal virus, and the permanent addition to 



232 A CENTURY OF CHRISTIANITY AND ITS EFFECTS. 



that catalogue of terrors which priest and magistrate in Asiatic 
countries ever hold as welcome, to overawe the herd. For cen- 
turies the mention of that name would bate the breath, blanch 
the cheek and smite with fear as with an earthquake shock. It 
was the synomyn of sorcery, sedition, and all that was hostile to 
the purity of the home and the peace of society. All over the 
empire, in every city, town, village and hamlet ; by the roadside, 
ferry or mountain pass ; at every entrance to the capitol, stood the 




lilACE or UUDDIIA. 



public notice boards on which with prohibitions against ihe great 
crimes that disturbed the relations of society's government was 
one tablet written with a deeper brand of guilt, with a more hid- 
eous memory of blood, with a more awful terror of torture, than 
when the like superscription was affixed at the top of a cross that 
stood between two thieves on a little hill outside Jerusalem. Its 
daily and familiar sight startled ever and anon the peasants who 
clasped hands and uttered a fresh prayer ; the Bonze, or Buddhist 
priest, to add new venom to his maledictions ; the magistrate to 



ENGLISH EFFORTS TO OPEN TRADE. 



233 



shake his head ; and to the mother a ready word to hush the 
crying of her fretful babe. That name was Christ. So thor- 
oughly was Christianity or the " corrupt sect " supposed to be 
eradicated before the end of the seventeenth century, that its 
existence was historical, remembered only as an awful scar on the 
national memory. No vestiges were supposed to be left of it, and 
no knowledge of its tenets was held save by a very few scholars 
in Yeddo, trained experts who were kept as a sort of spiritual 
blood liounds to scent out the 
adherents of the accursed 
creed. It was left to our day 
since the recent opening of 
Japan, for them to discover 
that a mighty fire had been 
smoldering for over two cen- 
turies beneath the ashes of 
persecutions. As late as 1829 
seven persons, six men and an 
old woman, were crucified in 
Ozaka on suspicion of being 
Christians and communica- 
ting with foreigners. When 
the French brethren of the 
Mission Apostolique of Paris 
came to Nagasaki in 1860, 
they found in the villages 
around them over ten thou- 
sand people who held the 
faith of their fathers of the seventeenth century. 

The Portuguese were not the only race to attempt to open a 
permanent trade with Japan. Captain John Saris, with three 
ships, left England in April, 1611, with letters from King James 
I. to the "Emperor " (shogun) of Japan. Landing at Hirado he 
was well received, and established a factory in charge of Richard 
Cocks. The captain and a number of the party visited Yeddo 
and other cities and obtained from the shogun a treaty defining 
the privileges of trade, and signed Minamoto lyeyasu. After a 
tour of three months Saris arrived at Hirado again, having 




yC/Vr/'/aAr- — ■ 



JAPANESE SAMURAI OR WARRIOR OF THE 
OLD TIME. 



234 



PERIOD OF THE LAST SHOGUNATE. 



visited Kioto, where lie saw the splendid Christian churches and 
Jesuit palaces. After discouraging attempts to open a trade with 
Siam, Corea and China, and hostilities having broken out between 
them and the Dutch, the English abandoned the project of per- 
manent trade with Japan, and all subsequent attempts to reopen 
it failed. 

Will Adams, who was an English pilot, and the first of his 
nation in Japan, arrived in 1607 
and lived in Yeddo till he died 
thirteen years later. He rose 
into favor with the shoguns and 
the people by the sheer force of 
a manly, honest character. His 
knowledge of shipbuilding, 
mathematics, and foreign affairs 
made him a very useful man. 
Although treated with kindness 
and honor, he was not allowed 
to leave Japan. He had a wife 
and daughter in England. 
Adams had a son and daughter 
born to him in Japan, and there 
are still living Japanese who 
claim descent from him. One of 
the streets of Yeddo was named 
after him, and the people of that 
street still hold an annual cele- 
bration on the fifteenth of June 
in his honor. 

The history of the two centuries and a half that followed the 
triumphs of lyeyasu is that of profound peace and stern isolation. 
We must pass rapidly in review of them. This great shogun 
took pains to arrange the empire after the appointment to the 
office, in such a way that the shuguns of the Tokugawa family? 
the dynasty which he founded, should have strictest power and 
most certain descent. His sons and daughters were married 
where they would be most powerful in influence with the great 
families of dairaios. It must not be forgotten that lyeyasu and 




.TAPANESE GENERAL OF THE OLD TIME. 

{From a Native Drawing.) 



GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EMPIRE. 



235 



his successor were both in theory and in reality vassals of the 
emperor, though they assumed protection of the imperial person. 
Neither the shogun nor the daimios were acknowledged at 
Kioto as nobles of the empire. The lowest kuge, or noble, was 
above the shogun in rank. The shogun could obtain his 
appointment only from the mikado. He was simply the most 
powerful among the daimios, who had Avon that pre-eminence by 



j^,^>0^-i««s?t. 





JAPANESE BRIDGE. 



the sword, and who by wealth and power and a skillfully wrought 
plan of division of land among the other daimios was able to 
rule. 

In 1600 and the years following, lyeyasu employed an army of 
three hundred thousand laborers in Yeddo improving and building 
the city. Before the end of the century, Yeddo had a population of 
more than half a million, but it never did have, as the Hollanders 
guessed and the old text books told us, two million five hundred 



236 GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EMPIRE. 

thousand souls. Outside of Yeddo the strength of the great 
unifier was spent on public roads and highways, post stations, 
bridges, castles and mines. He spent the last years of his life 
engaged in erasing the scars of war by his policy of conciliation, 
securing the triumphs of peace, perfecting his plans for fixing in 
stability a system of government, and in collecting books and 
manuscripts. He bequeathed his code of laws to his chief 
retainers, and advised liis sons to govern in the spirit of kindness. 
He died on the eighth of March, 1616. 

The grandson of lyeyasu, lyemitsu, was another great shogun, 
and it was he who established the rule that all the daimios should 
visit and reside in Yeddo during half the year. Gradually these 
rules became more and more restrictive, until the guests became 
mere vassals. Their wives and children were kept as hostages in 
Yeddo. During liis rule the Christian insurrection and massacre 
at Shimabara took place, Yeddo was vastly improved, with 
aqueducts, fire watch towers, the establishment of mints, weights 
and measures. A general survey of the empire was executed ; 
maps of various provinces and plans of the daimios' castles were 
made ; the councils called Hiojo-sho (discussion and decision), and 
Wakadoshiyori (assembly of elders), were established and Corean 
envoys received. The height of pride and ambition which this 
shogun had already reached, is seen in the fact that in a letter of 
reply to Corea he is referred to as Tai Kun, (" Tycoon "), a title 
never conferred by the mikado on any one, nor had lyemitsu any 
legal right to it. It was assumed in a sense honorary or meaning- 
less to any Japanese, unless highly jealous of the mikado's sover- 
eignty, and was intended to overawe the Coreans. The approxi- 
mate interpretation of it is " great ruler." 

Under the strong rule of the Tokugawa shoguns, therefore, the 
long distracted Japanese empire at length enjoyed two-and-a-half 
centuries of peace and prosperity. The innate love of art, litera- 
ture, and education, which almost constant warfare had prevented 
from duly developing among the people, had now an opportunity 
of producing fruit. And as it had shown itself in former inter- 
vals of rest, so was it now. Under the patronage of lyeyasu was 
composed the Dai Nihon Shi, the first detailed history of Japan. 
Tsunayoshi, his successor, 1681 to 1709, founded at Seido a Con- 



UNDER THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNS. 237 

fucian university, and was such an enthusiast for literature that 
he used to assemble the princes and high officials about him and 
expound to them passages from the Chinese classics. Yoshimune, 
another shoguu, was much interested in astronomy and other 
branches of science, beside doing much to improve agriculture. 
Legal matters also engaged his attention ; he altered lyeyasu's 
policy so far as to publish a revised criminal code, and improved 
the administration of the law, forbidding the use of torture except 
in cases where there was flagrant proof of guilt. He built an astro- 
nomical observatory at Kanda and established at his court a pro- 
fessorship of Chinese literature. 

lyenori, shogun from 1787 to 1838, threw the classes of the 
Confucian university open to the public. Every body from the 
nobility down to the masses of the people began to appreciate 
literary studies. Maritime commerce within the limits of the 
four seas was encouraged by the shogun's government, regular 
service of junks being established between the principal ports. 
Nor must it be forgotten that to the Tokugawas is due the 
foundation of the great modern city of Yeddo with its vast fortifi- 
cations and its triumphs of art in the shrines of Shiba and Uyeno. 
It was at this period too that the matchless shrines of Nikko were 
reared in memory of the greatness of lyeyasu and lyemitsu. The 
successors of the former, the shoguns of the Tokugawa dynasty, 
fourteen in all, were with one exception buried alternately in the 
cemeteries of Zozoji and Toyeizan, in the city districts of Shiba 
and Uyeno. 

But throughout all this period of peace and progress the light 
of the outer world was excluded. The people made the best use 
of the light they had, but after all it was but dim. The learning 
by rote of thousands of Chinese characters, and the acquisition of 
skill in the composition of Chinese and Japanese veise, were 
little worthy to be the highest literary attainments possible to the 
most aspiring of the youth of Japan. In the domain of art there 
was more that was inviting, but scientific knowledge was tantaliz- 
ingly meagre and that little was overlaid with Chinese absurdities. 
When we consider that the isolation of the country was due to 
no spirit of exclusiveness in the national character, that indeed it 
was the result of a policy that actually went against the grain of 



238 AMERICA KNOCKS AT THE DOOR. 

the people, how many restless spirits must there have been during 
these long years, who kept longing for more light. Fortunately 
there was one little chink at Deshima, in the harbor at Nagasaki, 
and of this some of the more earnest were able to take advantage. 
Many instances are recorded and there must be many more of 
which we can know nothing, of Japanese students displaying the 
truest heroism in surmounting the difficulties that lay in the way 
of their acquiring foreign knowledge. Let us now see how there 
came at length an unsettled dawn, and after the clouds of this 
had cleared, a dazzling inpouring of the light. 

It was the American Union which opened the door of Japan to 
western civilization. It had been desired by all of the European 
nations, as well as by the United States, to obtain access to 
Japanese ports. Supplies were frequently needed, particularly 
water and coal, but no distress was ever considered a sufficient 
excuse for the Japanese to permit the landing of a foreign vessel's 
crew. Shipwrecked sailors frequently passed through seasons of 
great trial and danger, before they were restored to their own 
people. Even Japanese sailors who were shipwrecked on other 
shores, or carried out to sea, were refused re-admission to their 
own country when rescued by foreigners. 

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry of the American navy, 
urged upon President Millard Fillmore the necessity and possi- 
bility of making some sort of a treaty with the exclusive empire. 
It was decided that the most effective way to advance this desire 
was to sail into the bay of Yeddo with a squadron sufficient to 
comwiand respect. A fleet was assigned to the undertaking, 
under the command of Perry, and the American vessels sailed 
away to the Orient to rendezvous at the chief city of the Liu Kiu 
islands, Napha. From Napha the fleet sailed for Japan, the 
Susquehanna, the flagship, the advance of the line of the ships of 
seventeen nations. 

It was on the seventh day of July, 1853, under a sky and over 
a sea of perfect calm, that the four American warships appeared 
off Uraga in the Bay of Yeddo. Without delay the officials of 
Uraga emphatically notified the " barbarian " envoy that he must 
go to Nagasaki, where all business with foreigners had to be 
done. The barbarian refused to go. He informed the messengers 




BAPTISM OF BUDDHA, 



JAPAN'S DOOR HALF AJAR. 241 

that he was the bearer of a letter from the President of the United 
States to the Emperor of Japan ; that he had sailed as near as 
possible to the destination of the letter and would now deliver it 
and continue it on its way by land, but he would not retrace his 
path until the letter was delivered. The shogun lyeyoshi on re- 
ceiving information of such decision, was exceedingly troubled 
and called his officials to a council. Alarm was wide spread, and 
it was ordered that strict watch should be kept along the shore to 
prevent the barbarian vessels from committing acts of violence. 
During the eight days while Commodore Perry's fleet was wait- 
ing in the Bay of Yeddo, the boats of his ships were busily engaged 
in taking soundings and surveying the shores and the anchorage. 
No sailors were permitted to land, and no natives were molested. 
Every effort was made to indicate to the Japanese the desire for 
a peaceful friendship. 

A learned Chinese scholar was sent by the shogun to Uraga, 
who acted as an official and eminent interpreter in an interview 
with the American envoy. Continued councils were called by 
the shogun, not only of his chief officers but of the daimios, the 
nobles, and the retired nobles of Yeddo. The citizens of Yeddo 
and the surrounding villages were in great tumult, fearing that 
there would be a war, for which the country was totally unpre- 
pared. Meanwhile the envoy was impatiently demanding an 
answer. At last, after eight days, the patience and the impa- 
tience, combined with the demonstrations made by the vessels of 
the fleet, which were highly impressive to the Japaiiese ^vho had 
never seen a steamboat, won success for Commodore Perry's 
message. A high Japanese commissioner came to Uraga, pre- 
pared a magnificent pavilion for the ceremonies, and announced 
himself ready to receive the letter to the emperor. With great 
pomp and ceremony the Americans landed and in this pavilion 
with proper formalities, delivered the letter and presents from the 
president. Then having, for the first time in history, gained 
several important points of etiquette in a country where etiquette 
was more than law or morals, the splendid diplomat and warrior 
Perry sailed away with his fleet July 17, 1853. 

It was in response to a temporizing policy on the part of Japan, 
and to the good judgment and careful decision of Commodore 



■242 JAPAN TAKES TIME TO THINK. 

Perry, that the fleet sailed away wit liout demanding an immediate 
reply to his letter. The American envoy was informed that in a 
matter of so much importance a decision could not be at once 
reached, and that if he now left, lie would on his return get a 
definite answer. No wonder there was commotion. The nine- 
teenth century had come suddenly into contact with the fuur- 
tejnth. The spirit of commerce and the spirit of feudalism, two 
great but conflicting forces, met in their full development, and 
the result was necessarily a convulsion. We are hardly surprised 
to hear that the shogun died before Commodore Perry's return, 
or that during the next few years the land was harassed by earth- 
quakes and pestilences. 

Perry's second appearance was in Febrnarj-, 1854, this time 
with a much larger fleet. A hot debate took place in the 
shogun's Council as to the answer that should be given. The old 
daimio of Mito, tlie liead of one of the three families, which, 
forming the Tokugawa clan, furnished the occupants of the 
sliogunate, wanted to fight and settle the question once for all. 
" At first," he said, " they will give us philosophical instruments, 
machinery and other curiosities ; will take ignorant people in ; 
and trade being their chief object they will manage to impoverish 
the country, after which they will treat us just as they like, per- 
haps behave with the greatest rudeness and insult us, and end by 
swallowing up Japan. If we do not drive them away now we 
shall never have another opportunity." 

Others gave contrary advice, saying, " If we try to drive them 
iiway they will immediately commence hostilities, and then we 
shall be obliged to fight. If we once get into a dispute we shall 
have an enemy to fight who will not be easily disposed of. He 
does not care how long he will have to spend over it, but he will 
come with myriads of men-of-war and surround our shores com- 
pletely ; however large a number of ships we might destroy, he is 
so accustomed to that sort of thing that he would not care in the 
least. In time the country would be put to an immense expense 
and the people plunged into misery. Rather than allow this, as 
we are not the equals of foreigners in the mechanical arts, let us 
have intercourse with foreign countries, learn their drill and 
tactics, and when we have made the nation as united as one 



SIGNING OF THE FIRST TREATY. 243 

faiuily, we shall be able to go abroad and give lands in foreign 
countries to those who have distinguished themselves in battle." 

The latter view carried and a treaty with the United States 
was signed on the thirty-first of March, 1854. Now be it ob- 
served that the shogun did this without the sanction of the 
mikado, whom indeed he had never yet consulted on the matter, 
and that he subscribed himself Tai Kun, ("Tycoon,") or great 
ruler, a title to which he had no right and which if it meant any- 
thing at all involved an assumption of the authority of supreme 
ruler in the empire. This was the view naturally taken by 
Perry and by the ambassadors from European countries Avho a 
few years later obtained treaties with Japan. They were under 
the impression that they were dealing with the emperor ; and 
hearing of the existence of another potentate living in an inland 
city, surrounded with a halo of national veneration, they con- 
ceived the plausible but erroneous theory that the tycoon was 
the temporal sovereign, and this mysterious mikado the spiritual 
sovereign of the country. They little dreamed that the so-called 
tycoon was no sovereign at all, and that consequently the treaties 
which he signed had no legal validity. 

The shogun could ill afford thus to lay himself open to the 
charge of treason. From the first there had been a certain class 
of daimios who had never heartily submitted to the Tokugawa 
administration. The principal clans which thus submitted to the 
regime under protest against what they considered a usurpation, 
an encroachment on the authority of the mikado, whom alone 
they recognized as the divinely appointed ruler of Japan, were 
those of Satsuma, Choshiu, and Tosa. As the years of peace cast 
their spell over the nation, making the people forgetful of war 
and transforming the descendants of lyeyasu into luxurious 
idlers, much more like impotent mikados than successors of the 
energetic soldier and law-giver, their hopes more and more arose 
that an opportunity would be given them to overthrow the 
shogunate and bring about the unification of the empire at the 
hands of the mikado. Their time had now come. The shogun 
was enervated and he had so far forgotten himself as to open the 
country to foreign trade, without the sanction of the " Son of 
Heaven." It was this illegal act of the shogun that precipitated 



244 THE TREATY AVAS TREASON. 

the confusion, violence and disaster of the next few years, reach- 
ing ultimately in 1868 to the complete overthrow of his own 
power and the restoration of the mikado to his rightful position 
as actual as well as nominal ruler of the empire. 

Fearing the consequences of the illegal act into which he had 
been driven, the shogun lost no time in sending messengers to 
Kioto to inform the mikado of what had happened and seek his 
sanction to the policy adopted. It was plead in excuse for the 
course of conduct, that affairs had reached such a condition that 
the shogun was driven to sign the treaty. The emperor in great 
agitation summoned a council. The decision was unanimous 
against the shogun's action, and the messengers were informed 
that no sanction could be given to the treaty. The next import- 
ant step was not taken until July, 1858, when Lord Elgin arrived 
with propositions on the part of Great Britain for a treaty of 
amity and commerce. He was unaccompanied by any armed 
force, and brought a steam yacht as a present from Queen Vic- 
toria to the tycoon of Japan. 

A few months later treaties were entered into with all the 
leading powers of Europe, but if there was a political lull be- 
tween 1854 and 1858, the poor Japanese had distractions of a 
very different kind. From a violent earthquake and consequent 
conflagration, one hundred and four thousand of the inhabitants 
of Yeddo lost their lives. A terrific storm swept away one hun- 
dred thousand more, and in a visitation of cholera thirty thou- 
sand persons perished in Yeddo alone. Moreover, just when the 
treaties were being signed, the shogun lyesada died, " as if," says 
Sir R. Alcock, "a further victim was required for immolation on 
the altar of the outraged gods of Japan." 

The political tempest that had been gathering now swept over 
the nation. For the next ten years there was so much disorder, 
intrigue, and bloodshed, that Japan became among the western 
nations a byword for treachery and assassination. Defenseless 
foreigners were cut down in the streets of Yeddo and Yokohama 
and even in the legations. Twice was the British legation 
attacked, on one of the occasions being taken by storm and held 
for a time by a band of free-lances. No foreigner's life was safe. 
Even when out on the most trivial errand, every foreign resident 



YEARS OF VIOLENCE AND DISASTER. 245 

was accompanied by an armed escort furnished by the shogun's 
government. It is needless to give an account of all the different 
assassinations, successful or attempted, which darkened the 
period. The secretary to the American legation was cut down 
near Shiba, Yeddo, when returning from the Prussian legation 
with an armed escort; a Japanese interpreter attached to the 
British legation was fatally stabbed in broad daylight while 
standing at the legation flagstaff ; one of the guard at the same 
legation murdered two Englishmen in the garden and then com- 
mitted suicide ; an Englishman was cut down on the highway 
between Yokohama and Yeddo by certain retainei's of the daimio 
of Satsuma, whose procession he had unwittingly crossed on 
horseback ; and these were not all. 

It is not a satisfactory answer to say that hatred of foreigners 
was the leading motive that inspired all these acts of violence. 
This was no doubt more or less involved, but the true explana- 
tion is to be found in the hostility of the mikado's partisans to 
the shogun's government. All possible means were taken to 
thwart the shogun and bring him into complications with the 
ambassadors at his court. Every attack on a foreigner brought 
fresh trouble upon the Yeddo government and hastened its col- 
lapse. Long before foreigners arrived, the seeds of revolution 
had sprouted and their growth was showing above the soil. It is 
to the state of political parties and of feudalism at this epoch in 
Japanese history, and not to mere ill will against foreigners, that 
this policy of intrigue and assassination must be ascribed. 

It would take too long to discuss all the complications of this 
period and to inquire, for instance, how far when the Japanese 
government failed to arrest and execute the murderer of Mr. 
Richardson, the British were justified in demanding an indemnity 
of $500,000 from the shogun and $125,000 from the daimio of 
Satsuma, or in enforcing their demands with a threatened bom- 
bardment of Yeddo and an actual bombardment of Kagoshima. 
It is out of our scope here to inquire into the shelling of the 
batteries of the daimio of Choshiu, at Shimonoseki, in turn by 
the Americans, British, French and Dutch, the men of Choshiu 
having fired upon some Dutch, American, and French vessels that 
had entered the straits against the prohibition of the Japanese. 



246 HARD TIMES FOR THE SHOGUN. 

An iiideraiiity of 13,000,000 was also exacted and distributed 
among these nations. 

Such stern measures doubtless appeared to the foreign ambas- 
sadors necessary to prevent the expulsion or even the utter ex- 
termination of foreigners. Whether their policy was mistaken 
or not, certain it is that they can have had no adequate concep- 
tion of the difficulties with which the shogun had to contend. 
The position of that ruler was one of such distraction as might 
well evoke for him the pity of every disinterested onlooker. Do 
as he would, he could not escape trouble ; on the one side were 
the mikado's partisans ever growing in power and in determina- 
tion to crush him, and on the other were the equally irresistible 
foreigners with their impatient demands and their alarming 
threats. He was as helpless as a man between a wall of rock 
and an advancing tide. 

The internal difficulties of the country were increased by dis- 
sensions which broke out in the imperial court. The clans of 
Satsuma and Choshiu had been summoned to Kioto to preserve 
order. For some reason the former were relieved of this duty, 
or lather privilege, and it therefore devolved exclusively upon the 
Choshiu men. Taking advantage of their position, the Choshiu 
men persuaded the mikado to undertake a progress to the province 
of Yamato, there to proclaim his intention of taking the field 
against foreigners ; but this proposal roused the jealousy of the 
other clans at the imperial court, as they feared that the men of 
Choshiu were planning to obtain possessiiui of the nukado's per- 
son and thus acquire pre-eminence. The intended expedition 
was abandoned, and the men of Choshiu, accompanied by Sanjo, 
afterward prime minister of the reformed government, and six 
other nobles who had supported them, were banished from Kioto. 

The ill feeling thus occasioned between Choshiu and Satsuma, 
was fomented by an unfortunate incident which occurred at 
Shimonoseki early in 1864. The former clan recklessly fired 
upon a vessel, which being of European build they mistook for a 
foreign one, but which really belonged to Satsuma. Thus 
Choshiu was in disfavor both with the shogun and with the 
mikado, and in this year we have the strange spectacle of these 
tw^o rulers leaguing their forces together for its punishment. 



ABOLITION OF THE SHOGUNATES. 247 

August 20, 1864, the Choshiu men advanced upon Kioto, but 
were repulsed with much slaughter, only however after the 
greater part of the city had been destroyed by fire. The rebell- 
ion was not at once quelled ; indeed the Choshiu samurai were 
proving themselves more than a match for the troops which tlie 
shogun had sent against them, when at length the imperial court 
ordered the fighting to be abandoned. Simultaneously with the 
Choshiu rebellion the shogun had to meet an insurrection by the 
daimio of Mito, in the east. His troubles no doubt hastened his 
death, which took plaee at Osaka in September, 1866, shortly be- 
fore the war against Chosliiu terminated. Then there succeeded 
Keiki, the last of the shoguns. 

it should be noted, however, that before this the mikado's 
sanction had been obtained to the foreign treaties. In Novem- 
ber, 1865, British, French, and Dutch squadrons came to anchor 
off Hiogo, of which the foreign settlement of Kobe is now a 
suburb, and sent letters to Kioto demanding the imperial con- 
sent. The nearness of such an armed force was too great an 
argument to be withstood, and the demand was granted. Little 
more than a year after his accession to the shogunate Keiki re- 
signed. In doing so he proved himself capable of duly apprecia- 
ting the national situation. Now that foreigners had been ad- 
mitted, it was more necessary than ever that the government 
should be strong, and this, it was seen, was impossible without 
the abolition of the old dual system. ' He had secured the 
mikado's consent to the treaties, on the condition that they 
should be revised, and that Hiogo should never be opened as a 
port of foreign commerce. 

But the end had not yet come. On the same day when the 
shogunate was abolished, January 3, 1868, the forces friendly to 
the Tokagawas were dismissed from Kioto, and the guardianship 
of the imperial palace was committed to the clans of Satsuma, 
Tosa, and Geishiu. This measure gave Keiki great offense, and 
availing himself of a former order of the court which directed 
him to continue the conduct of affairs, he marched with his re- 
tainers and friends to Ozaka and sent a request to the mikado 
that all Satsuma men who had any share in the government 
should be dismissed. To this tlie court would not consent, and 



248 IMPERIALISM IN THE ASCENDANT. 

Keiki marched against Kioto with a force of thirty thousand men, 
his declared object being to remove from the mikado his bad 
counselors. A desperate engagement took place at Fushimi, in 
which the victory was with the loyalists. But this was only the 
beginning of a short but sharp civil war, of which the principal 
fighting was in the regions between Yeddo and Nikko. 

The restoration was at last complete. Proclamation was made 
" to sovereigns of all foreign nations and their subjects, that per- 
mission had been granted to the shogun Yoshinobu, or Keiki, to 
return the governing power in accordance with his own request; " 
and the manifesto continued : "henceforward we shall exercise 
supreme authority both in the internal and external affairs of the 
country. Consequently the title of emperor should be substituted 
for that of tycoon which had been hitherto employed in the 
treaties." Appended were the seal of Dai Nippon, and the signa- 
ture of Mutsuhito, this being the first occasion in Japanese history 
on which the name of an emperor had appeared during his life- 
time. 

With the triumph of the imperial party one might have ex- 
pected a return to the old policy of isolation. There can be no 
doubt that when the Satsunia, Choshiu, and other southern clans 
commenced their agitation for the abolition of the shogunate, 
their ideas with regard to foreign intercourse were decidedly 
retrogressive. But after all, the leading motive which inspired 
them was dissatisfaction with the semi-imperial position occupied 
by the upstart Tokugawas ; to this their opposition to foreigners 
was quite secondary. It so happened that the Tokugawa shoguns 
got involved with foreigners, and it was so much the worse for 
the foreigners. To go deeper, what was at the bottom of this 
desire was the overthrow of the shogunate. Doubtless their 
patriotism, what they had at heart, was the highest welfare of 
their country, and this they believed imposeible without its unifi- 
cation. Their primary motive then, being patriotism, we need 
not be surprised that they were willing to entertain the notion 
that perhaps after all the prosperity of their country might best 
be insured by the adoption of a policy of free foreign intercourse. 
This idea more and more commended itself, until it became a 
conviction ; and when they got into power they astonished the 



O 11 




liHiii 



^iiiiiiiyi 



RADICAL CHANGES BY THE MIKADO. 251 

world by the thoroughness with which they broke loose from the 
old traditions and entered upon a policy of enlightened reforma- 
tion. To the political and social revolution which accompanied 
the restoration of the mikado in 1868, there has been no parallel 
in the history of mankind. 

One of the first acts of the mikado after the restoration, was 
to assemble the kuges and daimios and make oath before them 
" that a deliberative assembly should be formed, and all measures 
be decided upon by public opinion ; that impartiality and justice 
should form the basis of his action ; and that intellect and learn- 
ing should be sought for throughout the world in order to estab- 
lish the foundations of the empire." In the mid-summer of 1868, 
the mikado, recognizing Yeddo as really the center of the nation's 
life, made it the captial of the empire and transferred his court 
thither ; but the name Yeddo, being distasteful on account of its 
associations with the shogunate, was abolished, and the city re- 
named Tokio, or " Eastern Capital." At the same time the an- 
cient capital Kioto, received the new name of Saikio or " West- 
ern Capital." For the creation of a central administration, how- 
ever, more was necessary than the abolition of the shogunate and 
the establishment of the mikado's authority. The great fabric 
of feudalism still remained intact. Within his own territory 
each daimio was practically an independent sovereign, taxing his 
subjects as he saw fit, often issuing his own currency, and some- 
times even granting passports so as to control intercourse with 
neighboring provinces. Here was a formidable barrier to the 
consolidation of the empire. But the reformers had the courage 
and the tact necessary to remove it. 

The first step towards the above revolution was taken in 1869, 
when the daimios of Satsuma, Choshiu, Hizen, and Tosa ad- 
dressed a memorial to the mikado requesting his authorization 
for the resignation of their fiefs into his hands. Other nobles 
followed their example, and the consequence was the acceptance 
by the mikado of control over the land and revenues of the dif- 
ferent provinces, the names of the clans however being still pre- 
served, and the daimios allowed to remain over them as governors, 
each with one-tenth of the former assessment of his territory as 
rental. By this arrangement the evil of too suddenly termina- 



252 ANNIHILATING FEUDALISM. 

ting the relation between the clans and their lords was sought to 
be avoided, but it was only temporary ; in 1871 the clan system 
was totally abolished, and the country redivided for administra- 
tive purposes, with officers chosen irrespectively of hereditary 
rank or clan connection. 

But the payment of hereditary pensions and allowances of the 
ex-daimios and ex-samurai proved such a drain upon the national 
resources that in 1876 the reformed government found it neces- 
sary to compulsorily convert them into capital sums. The rate 
of commutation varied from five years' purchase in the case of 
the largest pensions, to fourteen years' in that of the smallest. 
The number of the pensioners with whom they had thus to deal 
was three hundred and eighteen thousand four hundred and 
twenty-eight. The act of the daimios in thus suppressing them- 
selves looks at first sight like a grand act of self-sacrifice, as we 
are not accustomed to see landed proprietors manifesting such 
disinterestedness for the patriotic object of advancing their coun- 
try's good. But the vast majority of daimios had come to be 
mere idlers, as the greater mikado had been. Their territories 
were governed by the more able and energetic of their retainers, 
and it was a number of these men that had most influence in 
bringing about the restoration of the mikado's authority. Intense 
patriots, they saw that the advancement of their country could 
not be realized without its unification, and at the same time they 
cannot but have preferred a larger scope for their talents, which 
service immediately under the mikado would give them. From 
being ministers of their provincial governments, they aspired to 
be ministers of the imperial government. They were successful ; 
and their lords, who had all along been accustomed to yield to 
their advice quite cheerfully, acquiesced when asked for the good 
of the empire to give up their fiefs to the mikado. One result 
of this is that while most of the ex-daimios have retired into 
private life, the country is now governed almost exclusively by 
ex-samurai. Such sweeping changes were not to be accomplished 
without rousing opposition and even rebellion. The government 
incurred much risk in interfering with the ancient privileges of 
the samurai. It is not surprising that several rebellions had to 
be put down during the years immediately succeeding 1868. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN JAPAN. 263 

Dr. William Elliot Griffis, in his exhaustive and interesting 
■work, " The Mikado's Empire," discusses at length the change of 
Japan from feudalism to its present condition, the abolition of 
the shogunate, and the rebellions that followed that event. He 
declares that popular impression to be wrong which suggests 
that the immediate cause of the fall of the shogun's government, 
the restoration of the mikado to supreme power, and the aboli- 
tion of the dual and feudal systems, was the presence of foreign- 
ers on the soil of Japan. The foreigners and their ideas were 
the occasion, not tlie cause, of the destruction of the dual system 
of government. Their presence served merely to hasten what 
was already inevitable. 

The history of Japan from the abolition of feudalism in 1871 
up to the present time, is a record of advance in all tlie arts of 
western civilization. The mikado, Mutsuhito, has shown himself 
to be much more than a petty divinity, a real man. He has 
taken a firm stand in advocacy of the introduction of western 
customs, wherever they were improvements. The imperial navy, 
dockyards, and machine shops have been a pride to him. He has 
withdrawn himself from mediaeval seclusioh and assumed divinity, 
and has made himself accessible and visible to his subjects. He 
has placed the empress in a position like to that occupied by the 
consorts of European monarchs, and with her he has adopted 
European attire. In the latter part of June, 1872, the mikado 
left Tokio in the flagship of Admiral Akamatsu, and made a tour 
throughout the south and west of his empire. For the first time 
in twelve centuries the emperor of Japan moved freely and un- 
veiled among his subjects. 

Again in the same year Japan challenged the admiration of 
Christendom. The coolie trade, carried on by Portuguese at 
Macao, in China, between the local kidnappers and Peru and 
Cuba, had long existed in defiance of the Chinese government. 
Thousands of ignorant Chinese were yearly decoyed from Macao 
and shipped in sweltering shipholds, under the name of " passen- 
gers." In Cuba and Peru their contracts were often broken, 
they were cruelly treated, and only a small portion of them re- 
turned alive to tell their wrongs. The Japanese government 
had with a fierce jealousy watched the beginning of such a 



254 



DESTROYING THE COOLIE TRADE. 



traffic on their own shores. In the last days of the shogunate, 
coolie traders came to Japan to ship irresponsible hordes of 
Japanese coolies and women to the United States. To their 
everlasting shame, be it said some were Americans. Among the 
first things done by the mikado's government after the restora- 
tion, was the sending of an 
official who effected the joyful 
delivery of these people and 
their return to their homes. 

So the Japanese set to work 
to destroy this nefarious traffic. 
The Peruvian ship Maria Luz, 
loaded with Chinese, entered 
the port of Yokohama. Two 
fugitive coolies in succession 
swam to the English war ship 
T'on Duke. Hearing the pite- 
as story of their wrongs, Mr. 
\/^atson, the British charg6 
<fi ¥555215® ¥/%S^"* •'■^ii^fli.V I'affaires, called the attention 

^^^^^HhIj^SH^IHk^^^I;^ ^^ ^^^ Japanese authorities to 
these illegal acts in their waters. 
A protracted enquiry was in- 
stituted and the coolies landed. 
The Japanese refused to force 
them on board against their 
will, and later shipped them to 
China, a favor which was grate- 
fully acknowledged by the 
Chinese government. This act 
of a pagan nation achieved a 
grand moral victory for the 
world and humanity. Within 
four years the eoolie traffic, 
which was but another name for the slave trade, was abolished from 
the face of the earth, and the coolie prisons of Macao were in ruins. 
Yet the act of freeing the Chinese coolies in 1872 was done in 
the face of clamor and opposition, and a rain of protests from 




CHINESE COOLIE. 



IN CONTACT WITH WESTERN NATIONS. 2i>7 

the foreign consuls, ministers, and a part of the press. Abuse 
and threats and diplomatic pressure were in vain. The Japanese 
never wavered, but marched straight to the duty before them, the 
liberation of the slaves. The British charge and the American 
consul. Colonel Charles O. Shepherd, alone gave hearty support 
and unwavering sympathy to the riglit side. 

During the same year, 1872, two legations and three consulates 
were established abroad, and from that time forward the number 
has been increasing until the representatives of Ja^Dan's govern- 
ment are found all over the world. Scores of daily newspapers 
and hundreds of weeklies have been furnishing the country with 
information and awakening thought. The editors are often men 
of culture or students returned from abroad. 

The Corean war project had, in 1872, become popular in the 
cabinet and was the absorbing theme of the army and navy. 
During the Tokugawa period Corea had regularly sent embassies 
of homage and congratulation to Japan ; but not relishing the 
change of affairs in 1868, disgusted at the foreignizing tendencies 
of the mikado's government, incensed at Japan's departure from 
Turanian ideals, and emboldened by the failure of the French 
and American expeditions, Corea sent insulting letters taunting 
Japan with slavish truckling to the foreign barbarians, declared 
herself an enemy, and challenged Japan to fight. About this 
time a Liu Kiu junk was wrecked on eastern Formosa, The 
crew was killed by the savages, and, it is said, eaten. The Liu 
Kiuans appealed to their tributary lords at Satsuma, who referred 
the matter to Tokio. English, Dutch, American, German, and 
Chinese ships have from time to time been wrecked on this can- 
nibal coast, the terror of the commerce of Christendom. Their 
war ships vainly attempted to chastise the savages. Soyejima, 
with others, conceived the idea of occupying the coast, to rule 
the wild tribes, and of erecting light houses in the interests of 
commerce. China laid no claim to eastern Formosa, all trace of 
which was omitted from the maps of the " Middle Kingdom." 
In the spring of 1873, Soyejima went to Peking and there, among 
other things granted him, was an audience with the Chinese em- 
peror. He thus reaped the results of the diplomatic labors of 
half a century. The Japanese ambassador stood upright before 



258 



AN EXPEDITION TO FORMOSA. 



the "Dragon Face" and the "Dragon Throne," robed in the 
tight black dress-coat, trousers, and linen of western civilization, 
bearing the congratulations of the young mikado of the " Sun- 
rise Kingdom " to the youthful emperor of the " Middle King- 
dom." In the Tsung-li Yamen, Chinese responsibility over 
eastern Formosa vi'as disavowed, and the right of Japan to chas- 
tise the savages granted. A 
Japanese junk was wrecked 
on Formosa, and its crew 
stripped and plundered while 
Soyejima was absent in China. 
This event piled fresh fuel on 
the flames of the war feeling 
now popular even among the 
unarmed classes. 

Japan at this time had 
to struggle with opposition 
within and without, to every 
move in the direction of ad- 
vancement in civilization. 
Says Griffis, "At home were 
the stolidly conservative 
peasantry backed by ignor- 
ance, superstition, priest- 
craft, and political hostility. 
On their own soil they were 
fronted by aggressive foreign- 
ers who studied all Japanese 
questions through the spec- 
tacles of dollars and cents 
and trade, and whose diplo- 
matists too often made the 
principles of Shylock their system. Outside the Asiatic nations 
beheld with contempt, jealousy and alarm the departure of one of 
their number from Turanian ideas, principles, and civilization. 
China with ill-concealed anger, Corea with open defiance taunted 
Japan with servile submission to the ' foreign devils.' 

" For the first time the nation was represented to the world by 




FORMOSAN TYPE. 



WHAT THE EMBASSY ACCOMPLISHED. 250 

an embassy at once august and plenipotentiary. It was. not a 
squad of petty ofQcials or local nobles going forth to kiss a toe, 
to play the part of figure-heads, or stool-pigeons, to beg the 
aliens to get out of Japan, to keep the scales on foreign eyes, to 
buy gun-boats, or to hire employees. A noble of highest rank, 
and blood of immemorial antiquity, with four cabinet ministers, 
set out to visit the courts of the fifteen nations having treaties 
with Dai Nippon. They were accompanied by commissioners 
representing every government department, sent to study and re- 
port upon the methods and resources of foreign civilizations. 
They arrived in Washington February 29, 1872, and for the first 
time in history a letter signed by the mikado was seen outside of 
Asia. It was presented by the ambassadors, robed in their an- 
cient Yamato costume, to the President of the United States on 
the 4th of March, Mr. Avinori Mori acting as interpreter. The 
first president of the free republic, and the men who had elevated 
the eta to citizenship stood face to face in fraternal accord. The 
one hundred and twenty-third sovereign of an empire in its 
twenty-sixth centennial saluted the citizen ruler of a nation 
whose century aloe had not yet bloomed. On the 6th of March 
they were welcomed on the floor of Congress. This day marked 
the formal entrance of Japan upon the theater of universal his- 
tory." 

In its subordinate objects the embassy was a signal success. 
Much was learned of Christendom. The results at home were 
the splendid series of reforms which mark the year 1872 as 
epochal. But in its prime object the embassy was an entire 
failure. One constant and supreme object was ever present, be- 
yond amusement or thirst for knowledge. It was to ask that in 
the revision of the treaties the extra-territoriality clause be 
stricken out, that foreigners be made subject to the laws of 
Japan. The failure of the mission was predicted by all who 
knew the facts. From Washington to St. Petersburg point-blank 
refusal was made. No Christian governments would for a mo- 
ment trust their people to pagan edicts and prisons. While 
Japan slandered Christianity by proclamations, imprisoned men 
for their beliefs, knew nothing of trial by jury, of the habeas 
corpus writ, or of modern jurisprudence ; in short while Japan 



260 REBELLION STAMPED OUT. 

maintained the institutions of barbarism, they refused to recog- 
nize her as a peer among nations. 

At home the watchword was progress. Public persecution for 
conscience' sake vanished. All the Christians torn from their 
homes and exiled and imprisoned in 1868 were set free and re- 
stored to their native villages. Education advanced rapidly, pub- 
lic decency was improved, and the standards of Christendom 
attempted. 

While in Europe Iwakura and his companions in the embassy 
kept cognizant of home affairs. With eyes opened by all that 
they had seen abroad, mighty results, but of slow growth, they 
saw their country going too fast. Behind the war project lay an 
abyss of ruin. On their return the war scheme brought up in a 
cabinet meeting was rejected. The disappointment of the army 
was keen and that of expectant foreign contractors pitiable. The 
advocates of war among the cabinet ministers resigned and re- 
tired to private life. Assassins attacked Iwakura, but his injuries 
did not result fatally. The spirit of feudalism was against him. 

On the 17th of January, the ministers who had resigned sent 
in a memorial praying for the establishment of a representative 
assembly in which the popular wish might be discussed. Their 
request was declined. It was officially declared that Japan was 
not ready for such institutions. Hizen, the home of one of the 
great clans of the coalition of 1868, was the chief seat of dis- 
affection. With perhaps no evil intent, Eto, who had been the 
head of the department of justice, had returned to his home 
there and was followed by many of his clansmen. Scores of 
officials and men assembled with traitorous intent, and raised the 
cry of " On to Corea." The rebellion was annihilated in ten 
days. A dozen ringleaders were sent to kneel before the blood 
pit. The national government was vindicated and sectionalism 
crushed. 

The Formosan affair was also brought to a conclusion. Thir- 
teen hundred Japanese soldiers occupied the island for six 
months, conquering the savages wherever they met, building 
roads and fortifications. At last the Chinese government in 
shame began to urge their claims on Formosa and to declare the 
Japanese intruders. For a time war seemed inevitable. The 







,ii'. ii .,„> 



* -■^ - 



THE SATSUMA KEBELLION. 263 

man for the crisis was Okubo, a leader in the cabinet, the master 
spirit in crushing the rebellion, and now an ambassador at Peking. 
The result was that the Chinese paid in solid silver an indemnity 
of $700,000 and the Japanese disembarked. Japan single-handed, 
with no foreign sympathy, but with positive opposition, had in 
the interests of humanity rescued a coast from terror and placed 
it in a condition of safety. In the face of threatened war a nation 
having but one-tenth the population, area, or resources of China, 
had abated not a jot of its just demands nor flinched from battle. 
The righteousness of her cause was vindicated. 

The Corean affair ended happily. In 1875 Kuroda Kiyotaka 
with men of war entered Corean waters. Patience, skill, and 
tact were crowned with success. On behalf of Japan a treaty of 
peace, friendship, and commerce was made between the two coun- 
tries February 27, 1876. Japan thus peacefully opened this last 
of the hermit nations to the world. 

The rebellions which we have mentioned were of a mild type 
compared with that which in 1877 shook the government to its 
foundations. In the limits of our space it is impossible to enter 
deeply into the causes of the Satsuma rebellion. Its leader, Saigo 
Takamori, was one of the most powerful members of the reformed 
government until 1873 when he resigned as some of his prede- 
cessors had done, indignant at the peace policy which was pur- 
sued. A veritable Cincinnatus, he seems to have won the hearts 
of all classes around him by tlie Spartan simplicity of his life and 
the aifability of his manner, and there was none more able or 
more willing to come to the front when duty to his country called 
him. It is a thousand pities that such a genuine patriot should 
have sacrificed himself through a mistaken notion of duty. 
Ambition to maintain and extend the military fame of his coun- 
try seems to have blinded him to all other more practical consid- 
erations. The policy of Okubo and the rest of the majority in the 
cabinet, with its regard for peace and material prosperity, was in 
his eyes unworthy of the warlike traditions of old Japan. But 
we cannot follow out the story of this famous rebellion — how 
Saigo established a private school in his native city of Kagoshima 
for the training of young Shizoku in military tactics, how the re- 
ports of the policy of the government more and more dissatisfied 



264 thp: satsuma rebellion. 

Jiim, until a rumor that Okubo had sent policemen to Kagoshima 
to assassinate him precipitated the storm that had been brewing. 
This report was not supported by satisfactory evidence, although 
the Kagoshima authorities extorted a so-called confession from a 
policeman. Okubo was too noble to be guilty of such an act. It 
was only after eight months of hard fighting, during which 
victory swayed from one side to another, and the death of Saigo 
and his leading generals when surrounded at last like rats in a 
trap, and tl)e expenditure of over forty million yen, that the 
much tried government could freely draw breath again. The 
people of Satsuma believe that Saigo's spirit has taken up its 
abode in the planet Mars, and that his figure may be seen there 
when that star is in the ascendant. 

By this time railways, telegraphs, lighthouse service, and a 
navy were well under construction in native works. Two 
national exhibitions were held, one in 1877 and the second in 
1881; the latter particularly was a pretentious one and a great 
success. In 1879 Japan annexed the Liu Kiu islands, bringing 
their king to Tokio, there to live as a vassal, and reducing tlie 
islands to the position of a prefecture in spite of the warlike 
threats of China. In the same year occurred the visit to Japan 
of General Grant while he was on his tour around the world. 
The famous American was entertained most enthusiastically by 
the citizens of Tokio for some two weeks in July. The enthusiasm 
awakened by his visit among the citizens was remarkable. Arches 
and illuminations were on every hand for miles. The entertain- 
ment provided by the Japanec^e for their distinguished guests at 
;iny time is so unique when seen by western eyes that it is always 
impressive and delightful. 



LIMITS AND POSSESSIONS OF THE JAPANESE EM- 
PIRE. 



The Islands and their Situation— The Famous Mountain Fuji-yama— Rivers and Canals 
—Ocean Currents and Their Effect on the Japanese Climate— Japan not a Tropical Country 
—Flora and Fauna— Tlie Important Cities— Strange History of Yokohama— Commerce— Min- 
jng— Agricultural Products— Ceramic Art— Government of the Realm. 

The empire of Japan is a collection of islands of various dimen- 
sions, numbering nearly four thousand, and situated to the east 
of the Asiatic continent. Only four of these however, are of size 
sufficient to entitle them to considerable fame, and around these 
a sort of belt of defense is formed by the thousands of islets. 
Dai Nippon is tlie name given by the natives to their beautiful 
land, and from this expression, which means Great Japan, our 
own name for the empire has been taken. Foreign writers have 
very often blundered in calling the largest island Nipj^on or 
Niphon. This more properly applies to the entire empire, while 
the main island is named in the military geography of Japan, 
Hondo. This word itself means main land. The other three im- 
portant islands are Kiushiu, the most southeasterly of all ; 
Shikoku, which lies between the latter and Hondo ; and Yesso, 
which is the most northerly of the chain. 

Japan occupies an important position on the surface of the 
globe, measured by political and commercial possibilities. Its 
position is such that its people may not unreasonably hope to 
form a natural link between the Occident and the Orient. Lying 
in the Pacific Ocean, in the temperate zone and not in the torrid, 
as many have the thought, it bends like a crescent off the conti- 
nent of Asia. In the extreme north, near the island of Saghalien, 
the distance from the main land of Asia is so short that it is little 
more than a day's sail in a junk. At the southern extremity, 
where Kiushiu draws nearest to the Corean peninsula, the distance 
to the main land is even less. Between this crescent of islands 
and the Asiatic main land is enclosed the Sea of Japan. For 
more than four thousand miles eastward stretches the Pacific 
Ocean, with no stopping point for steamers voyaging to San 
17 (265) 



266 ISLANDS OF THE EMPIRE. 

Francisco unless they diverge far from their course for a call at 
Honolulu. 

The island connections of Japan are numerous. To the south 
are the Liu Kiu islands, which have been annexed to Japan, and 
still farther the great island of Formosa. To the north are the 
Kurile islands, which extend far above Yesso and were ceded to 
Japan by Russia in return for Saghalien, over which rule was 
formerly disputed. The chain is almost continuous, although 
broken and irregular, to Kamtchatka, and thence prolonged by 
the Aleutian islands in an enormous semicircle to Alaska and our 
own continent. 

The configuration of the land is that resulting from the com- 
bined effects of volcanic action and wave erosion. The area of 
the Japanese islands is about one hundred and fifty thousand 
square miles, or nearly as great as the New England and Middle 
States. But of this surface nearly two-thirds consists of mountain 
land, much of it still lying waste and uncultivated though appar- 
ently capable of tillage. On the main island a solid backbone of 
mountainous elevations runs through a great portion of its length, 
with subordinate chains extending at right angles and rising again 
in the other islands. The mountains decrease in height towards 
the south and there are few highlands along the sea coast. The 
range is reached by a gradual rise from the sea, until the back- 
bone of the great island chain is reached. Japan rises abruptly 
from the sea, and deep water begins very close to the shore, in- 
dicating that the entire range of islands may be properly char- 
acterized as an immense mountain chain thrown up from the 
bottom of the ocean. The highest peak is Fuji-yama, which rises 
to a height of more than twelve thousand feet above the sea. It 
is a wonderfully beautiful mountain, and is the first glimpse that 
one has of land in approaching Yokohama from the Pacific Ocean. 
Of the position which this mountain occupies in the affections and 
traditions of the Japanese, mention will be made in a later 
chapter. 

The islands forming the empire of Japan are comprehended in 
these limits; between twenty-four degrees and fifty-one degrees 
north latitude, and one hundred and twenty-four degrees and one 
hundred ^.nd fifty-seven degrees east longitude. That is, speaking 



FUJI-YAMA. 



267 



roughly, it lies diagonally in and north of the subtropical belt, 
and has northern points corresponding with Paris and Newfound- 
land, and southern ones corresponding with Cairo and the 
Bermuda islands; or coming nearer home, it corresponds pretty 
nearly in latitude with the eastern coast line of the United States, 
added to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and the contrasts of 
climate in the latter island and in Florida are probably not more 
remarkable than those which are observed in the extreme northern 
and southern regions of Japan. 

The most striking geographical feature of Japan is the Inland 




FUJI-YAMA. 



Sea, which is one of the beauties of the world. It is a long, 
irregularly shaped arm of the sea, with tides and rapid currents, 
of variable width and no great depth, studded with innumerable 
thickly wooded islands. It is the water area which separates 
Hondo from Sliikoku and Kiushiu, and is often spoken of as the 
Japanese Mediterranean. 

One or two of the rivers of Japan, such as the Sumida, on the 
banks of which Tokio, the capital, lies, and which is about as 
broad as the East River between New York and Brooklyn, are 



268 RIVERS. 

worthy of note. Here at the present time are situated several 
ship yards, and many modern craft built in the American fashion 
may be seen along the shore. Here it may be mentioned that any 
particular appellation given to a river in Japan holds good only 
for a limited part of its course, so that it changes its name per- 
haps four or five times in flowing a few hundred miles. Indeed 
the river which passes through the city of Ozaka changes its name 
four times within the city limits. Most of the larger rivers in 
the main land run a course tending almost north and south. The 
general contour of the land is such that they must be short, but 
this direction gives them the greatest length possible. There are 
brief periods of excessively heavy rain, and they are often then in 
fierce flood, carrying everything before them and leaving great 
plains of water-worn stones and gravel around their mouths. 
There are many picturesque waterfalls which attract travelers 
and command the admiration of native artists and poets. The 
rivers at a short distance from their outlets are rendered navigable 
chiefly by the courage and expertness of the boatmen, — who are 
among the most daring and skillful in the world. 

Till recently little has been done to deepen river channels or 
protect their banks, except in the interest of agriculture. In the 
lower courses, where broad alluvial plains of great fertility have 
been formed, they are frequently intersected by numerous shallow 
canals, for the most part of comparatively recent excavation, but 
some of them are many centuries old and these have been of im- 
mense service in keeping up communication throughout the 
country. In spite of their shallowness and rapid silting, some of 
the rivers of Japan are capable of being improved so as to admit 
of the passage of steam vessels of the largest size, and there are 
fine natural iidets and spacious bays which form harbors of great 
excellence. 

The Japanese coast is usually steep and even precipitous. Its 
chief natural features, such as sunken rocks, capes, straits, en- 
trances to bays and harbors and the mouths of rivers are now 
well marked with beacons or lighthouses of modern construction. 
The tides are not great, and in Yeddo bay the rise is only about 
four feet on an average. In spring tides it rarely exceeds six 
feet, and in general the height of the flood tide is never very 



GREAT OCEAN CURRENTS. 26^ 

great. Navigation in summer is somewhat dangerous and diffi- 
cult, owing to the mists and fogs which are deemed by its sailors 
to be the great scourge of Japan. Indeed these malarious cloud 
banks are probably as dangerous to the health of the landsmen as 
they are to the safety of the mariner. While a large area of land 
lying under shallow water, during rice cultivation, may have 
some share in the formation of these dangerous mists, there is the 
more general cause which is readily to be found in the ocean cur- 
rents. 

Japan occupies a striking position in these currents which flow 
northward from the Indian ocean and the Malay peninsula. That 
branch of the great Pacific equatorial current called the Kuro 
Shiwo, or dark tide or current, on account of its color, flows in 
a westerly direction past Formosa and the Liu Kiu islands, strik- 
ing the south point of Kiushiu and sometimes in summer send- 
ing a branch up the Sea of Japan. With great velocity it scours 
the east coast of Kiushiu and the south of Shikoku ; thence with 
diminished rapidity it envelopes the group of islands south of the 
Bay of Yeddo ; and at a point a little north of Tokio it leaves 
the coast of Japan and flows northeast towards the shores of 
America, ultimately giving to our own Pacific coast states a far 
milder climate than the corresponding latitudes on the Atlantic 
coast. 

The yearly evaporation at the tropics, of fully fourteen or fif- 
teen feet of ocean water, causes the great equatorial current of 
the Pacific to begin its flow. When the warm water reaches the 
colder waters to the northward, condensation of the vi^ater-laden 
air takes place, with the resulting formation of great cloud banks. 
The water appears to be of a deep, almost indigo-blue color, 
w^hence the name given to the current by the Japanese. Fish 
occur in great numbers where the Arctic current of fresher, 
lighter, and cooler water meets the warm salt stream from the 
south, amidst great commotion. The analogy of this great cur- 
rent to the Gulf stream of the Atlantic is apparent, and there can 
be no doubt as to its great influence on the climate of Japan. A 
difference of from twelve to sixteen degrees may be observed in 
passing from its waters to the cold currents from the north, and 
the effect of this on the atmosphere is very marked. The sudden 



270 JAPANESE CLIMATE. 

and severe changes of temperature are often noticed on the 
southern coast of Japan and even in Yeddo bay. They are evi- 
dently due to eddies or branch currents from the great streams 
of cold and warm water which interweave themselves in the 
neighborhood. 

In the island of Yesso, the most northerly of the large ones, 
the extremes of temperature are nearly as great as in New En- 
gland. In the vicinity of Tokio the winter is usually clear and 
mild, with occasional sharp frosts and heavy falls of snow. In 
summer the heat is oppressive for nearly three months. Even at 
night the heat remains so high that sleep becomes almost impos- 
sible, the air being oppressive and no breeze stirring. The great- 
est heat is usually from the middle of June to early in September. 
The cold in winter is much more severe on the northwestern 
coast, and the roads across the main island are often blocked 
with snow for many months. In Yokohama the snow fall is light, 
not often exceeding two or three inches. The ice seldom exceeds 
an inch in thickness. Earthquake shocks are frequent, averag- 
ing more than one a month, but of late years there have been 
none of great severity. 

The winds of Japan are at all seasons exceedingly irregular, 
frequently violent, and subject to sudden changes. The north- 
east and easterly winds are generally accompanied by rain, and 
are not violent. The southwest and westerly winds are generally 
high, often violent, and accompanied with a low barometer. It 
is from the southwest that the cyclones or typhoons almost in- 
variably come. On clear and pleasant days, which in the neigh- 
borhood of Yokohama prevail in excess of foggy ones, there is a 
regular land and sea breeze at all seasons. The rainfall is above 
the average of most countries, and about two-thirds of the rain- 
falls during the six months from April to October. 

The flora of Japan is exceedingly interesting, not only to botan- 
ists and specialists, but to casual travelers and readers. The use. 
ful bamboo flourishes in all parts of the land ; sugar cane and the 
cotton plant grow in the southern part; tea is grown almost 
everywhere. The tobacco plant, hemp, corn, mulberry for silk, 
worm food, rice, wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat, potatoes, and 
yams are all cultivated. The beech, the oak, maples, and pina 



FAUNA. 2tS 

trees in rich variety ; azaleas, camelias, etc., grow in the forests. 
Some of the more characteristic plants are wisteria, cryptomeria, 
calceolaria and chrysanthemums. Various varieties of evergreens 
are grown, and the Japanese gardeners are peculiarly expert in 
cultivating these trees in dwarf forms of great beauty. Many 
familiar wild flowers can be gathered, such as violets, blue-bells, 
forget-me-uots, thyme, dandelions, and others. The woods are 
rich in ferns, among which the royal fern is conspicuous, and in 
orchids, ivies, lichens, mosses and fungi. The beautiful locusts, 
though imported, may now fairly be considered as naturalized. 
There are many water lilies, reeds and rushes, some of which are 
of great beauty and others of utility. 

The mammalia of Japan are not numerous. In ancient times, 
before the dawn of history, two species of dwarf elephants ex- 
isted in the plains around Tokio. There are many monkeys in 
some parts, even in the extreme northern latitudes. Foxes 
abound and are regarded with reverence. Wolves and bears are 
destructive in the north. There are wild antelopes, red deer, 
wild boars, dogs, raccoons, badgers, otters, ferrets, bats, moles, 
and rats ; while the sea is specially rich in seals, sea-otters, and 
whales. The country has been found quite unsuitable for sheep, 
but goats thrive well, although they are not much favored by the 
people. Oxen are used for draught purposes. Horses are small 
but are fair quality, and the breed is being improved. The cats 
are nearly tailless. The dogs are of a low, half-wolfish breed. 
There are some three hundred varieties of birds known in Japan. 
Few of them are what we call song-birds, but the lark is one 
brilliant exception. Game birds are plentiful, but are now pro- 
tected. 

Insects are very numerous, as no traveler will dispute, and 
Japan is a great field for investigation by entomologists. Locusts 
are often destructive, and mosquitoes are a great pest. Bees, the 
silk worm and the wax-insect are highly appreciated. 

There are several kinds of lizards, a great variety of frogs, 
seven or eight snakes, including one deadly species, and two or 
three kinds of tortoise. The crustaceans are numerous and inter- 
esting, and of fish there is extraordinary variety, especially those 
found in salt water. Oysters and clams are excellent and plentiful. 



274 JAPAN'S GREAT CITIES. 

Let us now turn to the temporal affairs of the people who dwell 
in this island empire, their cities, their industries, and to their 
government. 

Japan like its oriental companion, China, is a country of great 
cities, although the smaller empire has not so many famous for 
their size as has China. With scarcely an exception these greater 
cities are situated at the heads of bays, most of them good har- 
bors and accessible for commerce. The largest of these cities, of 
course, is the capital Tokio, which doubtless passes a million in- 
habitants, although it is impossible that it should justify the 
American tradition of not many years ago, that its numbers were 
twice a million. Tokio, or the old city of Yeddo, is situated near 
the head of Yeddo Bay, but a few miles from Yokohama, and but 
little farther from Uraga where the first reception to Commodore 
Perry was given. Among the other more important cities on the 
sea coast are Nagasaki, Yokohama, Hakodate, Hiogo, Ozaka, 
Hiroshima, and Kanagawa. 

Nagasaki is situated on the southwest coast of the island of 
Kiushiu, and is built in the form of an amphitheater. The Euro- 
pean quarter in the east, stands upon land reclaimed from the 
sea at considerable labor and expense. Desima, the ancient 
Dutch factory, lies at the foot, and behind it is the native part of 
the town. The whole is sheltered by high wooden mountains. 
The city of Nagasaki was almost the first which attracted the at- 
tention of foreigners, partly from its being already known by 
name from the Dutch colony established there ; partly because it 
was the nearest point to China and a port of great beauty ; and 
also because before the political revolution which overthrew the 
power of the shogunate, the daimios of the south were there en- 
abled, owing to its distance from Yeddo, to transact foreign 
affairs in their own way unmolested. This comparative import- 
ance did not last long, for affairs soon began to be concentrated in 
Yokohama, and the opening of the ports of Hiogo and Ozaka 
further reduced it to a secondary rank among commercial towns. 
It is still, however, a busy place and a great portion of the naviga- 
tion of the Japanese seas passes by its beautiful port. But it is 
not a town of the future, and will be supplanted in prosperity to 
considerable extent by the more northern cities. 



YOKOHAMA. 275^ 

ifokohama, situated on the Gulf of Yeddo, owes its rise and im- 
portance to the merchants who came to seek their fortunes in the 
empire of tlie rising sun immediately after the signature of the 
treaties which threw open the coasts of Japan to adventurous 
foreigners. When Perry, with his augmented fleet, returned to 
Japan in February, 1854, the Japanese found him as inflexibly 
firm as ever. Instead of making the treaty at Uraga he must 
take it nearer Yeddo. Yokohama was the chosen spot, and there 
on the 8th of March, 1854, were exchanged the formal articles of 
convention between the United States and Japan. 

By the treaty of Yokohama, Shimoda was one of the ports 
opened to Americans. Before it began to be of much service the 
place was visited by an earthquake and tidal wave, which over- 
whelmed the town and ruined the harbor. The ruin of Shimoda 
was the rise of Yokohama. By a new treaty Kanagawa, three 
miles across the bay from Yokohama, was substituted for Shimoda. 
The Japanese government decided to make Yokohama the future 
port. Their reasons for this were many. Kanagawa was on the 
line of the great highway of the empire, along which the proud 
Daimios and their trains of retainers were continually passing. 
With the antipathy to foreigners that existed, had Kanagawa 
been made a foreign settlement, its history would doubtless have 
had many more pages of assassination and incendiarism than did 
Yokohama. Foreseeing this, even though considered by the 
foreign ministers a violation of treaty agreements, the Japanese 
government immediately set to work to render Yokohama as con- 
venient as possible for trade, residence and espionage. 

They built a causeway nearly two miles long across the lagoons 
and marshes to make it of easy access. They built granite piers, 
custom house and officers' quarters, and dwellings and store 
houses for the foreign merchants. After a long quarrel over 
which should be the city, the straggling colony of diplomats, 
missionaries, and merchants of Kanagawa finally pulled up their 
stakes and joined the settlement of Yokohama. Yokohama was 
settled in a squatter-like and irregular manner, and the ill effects 
of it are seen to this day. When compared with Shanghai, the 
foreign metropolis of China, it is vastly inferior. 

The town grew slowly at first. Murders and assassinations of 



276 mSE OF THE CITY. 

foreigners were frequent during the first few years. Diplomatic 
quarrels were constant, and threats of bombardment from some 
foreign vessel in the harbor of frequent occurrence. A fire which 
destroyed nearly the whole foreign town seemed to purify the 
place municipally, commercially, and morally. The settlement 
was rebuilt in a more substantial and regular manner. As the 
foreign population grew, banks, newspaper offices, hospitals, post- 
offices, and consulate buildings reappeared in a new dignity. Fire 
and police protection were organized. Steamers began to come 
from European ports and from San Francisco. Social life began 
as ladies and children came, and houses became homes. Then 
came the rapid growth of society and the finer things. Churches, 
theaters, clubs, schools were organized in rapid succession. Tele- 
graph connection with Tokio, and thence around the globe, was 
accomplished, and the railway system increased rapidly. Within 
the thirty-five years of the life of Yokohama, it has grown from a 
fishing village of a few hundred to a city of fifty thousand people. 
Its streets are lighted with gas and electricity ; its stores are piled 
full of rare silks, bronzes and curios. At present the foreign 
population of Yokohama numbers about two thousand residents. 
In addition to these the foreign transient population, made up of 
tourists and officers and sailors of the navy, and the merchant 
marine, numbers between three thousand and six thousand. 
Several daily newspapers, beside weeklies and monthlies, printed 
in English, furnish mediums of communication and news. Yoko- 
hama has become and will remain the great mercantile center of 
American and European trade in Japan. 

Hiogo, or rather Kobe, as the foreign part has been called since 
the concession, is near Ozaka, both towns being situated on the 
inland Sea of Japan, near the south end of the Island of Niphon. 
Kobe is a considerable foreign settlement, with many fine houses 
and spacious warehouses. Ozaka, which contains more than half 
a million inhabitants, is one of the chief trading cities of Japan, 
and an immense proportion of the merchandise imported into the 
empire passes through it. 

The commerce between Japan and western nations, European 
and American, increases year by year. England enjoys the 
profits from more than half of the total interchange, the United 



TRANS-OCEANIC COMMERCE. 279 

States is second, with a large portion of the remainder, and the 
rest of the commerce is divided among Germany, France, Holland, 
Norway, and Sweden. It is impossible to obtain figures recent 
enough to be a satisfactory index of the total volume of commerce 
annually, but it is now very many millions of dollars a j'ear. 
Japan exports tobacco, rice, wax, tea, silks, and manufactured 
goods, such as curios, bronzes, lacquer ware, etc. The principal 
imports of Japan are cotton goods, manufactures of iron, ma- 
chinery of all sorts, woolen fabrics, flour, etc. 

Mining in Japan is seldom carried on by modern methods, and 
the mineral wealth has not been developed as it will be within a 
few years. In almost every portion of Japan are found ores of 
some kind and there is scarcely a district in which there are not 
traces oj*" mines having been worked. No mines can be worked 
without special license of the government, and foreigners are ex- 
cluded from ownership in any mining industry. Japan seems to 
be fairly well, though not richly, provided with mineral wealth. 
The mines include those for gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, tin, 
plumbago, antimony, arsenic, marble, sulphur, alum, salt, coal, 
petroleum, and other minerals. 

The annual export of tea amounts to nearly thirty million 
pounds, of which considerably more than half is shipped from 
Yokohama. All Japanese tea is green and the United States is 
the chief customer for it. 

The exact area of Japan is not known, though it is computed 
at nearly one hundred and fifty thousand square miles, with a 
population of more than two hundred persons to a square mile. 
The number of acres under cultivation is about nine million, or 
one-tenth of the entire area. Not one-fourth of the fertile portion 
of Japan is yet under cultivation. Immense portions of good 
land await the farmers' plow and seed to return rich harvests. 
For centuries the agricultural art has been at a standstill. Pop- 
ulation and acreage have increased, but the crop in bulk and 
quantity remains the same. The true wealth of Japan consists 
in her agricultural and not in her mineral and manufacturing re- 
sources. The government and intelligent classes seem to be 
awakening to this fact. The islands are capable of yielding good 
crops and adapted to support the finest breeds of cattle. With 



280 GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN". 

these brandies of industry increased to the extent that they de- 
serve, the prosperity of the empire will show constant increase. 

The ceramic art of Japan and the art of the lacquer worker are 
two that have helped to make Japanese wares famous in the 
western world. The various wares of porcelain and faience are 
made in Japan in quality and art inferior to none in the world. 

Since the restoration to power of the mikado in 1868, the gov- 
ernment of Japan has been growing nearer and nearer into the 
forms of western monarchical governments. In a prior chapter 
the promise of the young mikado to advance the freedom of his 
people, and ultimately to adopt constitutional forms of rule, has 
been quoted. In the later years he has been aiming for the ful- 
fillment of this promise. Supporting him, the party of progres- 
sionists, largely influenced by contact with European and Amer- 
ican civilization, urge on every reform. The present government 
is simply the modernized form of the system established more 
than a thousand years ago, when centralized monarchy succeeded 
simple feudalism. After the emperor comes the Dai Jo Kuan, 
which is practically a supreme cabinet, and following this, three 
other cabinets of varying powers and duties. The council of 
ministers is made up of the heads of departments, the foreign 
office, home office, treasury, army, navy, education, religion, pub- 
lic works, judiciary, imperial household, and colonization. The 
Dai Jo Kuan directs the three imperial cities and the sixty-eight 
ken or prefectures. The provinces are now merely geographical 
divisions. 

In the course of the efforts to bring the Japanese forms of gov- 
ernment more into harmony with those of Europe and America, 
many important changes have been made. A system of nobility 
was devised, and titles were granted to those who were considered 
to be entitled to them, whether by birth or achievement. The 
four or five ranks included in this system closely follow the Eng- 
lish models. 

Tlie judiciary, too, has been remodeled in many details to make 
it approach the western system. The methods of procedure are 
gradually conforming nearer and nearer to our own, as well as 
the names and jurisdiction of the courts. The Japanese people 
have been exceedingly anxious of late years to expunge the extra- 



CONSTITUTION AND PARLIAMENT. 



281 



territoriality clause which appears in the treaties with all western 
nations. It provides, in effect, that offenses by a foreigner against 
a Japanese shall be judged in a consular court presided over by 
the consul of that country whence the foreigner comes. In othei 
words, Japanese courts have no jurisdiction over the doings of 











JAPANESE COURT DRESS, OLD S TYLF,. 



foreigners having consuls in that country. This provision has 
become very obnoxious to the Japanese people, placing them on 
a level, as it does, with barbaric and semi-barbaric countries, 
where like provisions hold. This has been one of the potent fac- 
tors in influencing Japan to adopt western legal methods. Recent 



282 CONSTITUTION AND PARLIAMENT. 

treaties which have been drawn with the United States and with 
England provide that this clause shall be expunged, and if they 
are finally agreed upon we may soon see Japan more absolutely 
independent than she has yet been. 

In 1890 a constitution was granted to Japan by the emperor, 
and a few months later legislative bodies for the first time began 
deliberation in Tokio. The powers of this parliament are con- 
stantly increasing. The war between China and Japan has been 
a strong influence to weld the people of opposing political faiths 
into harmony, and in parliament conservatives and radicals alike 
have risen in patriotism, and have been glad to cast votes for 
every measure that would hold up the hands of those who were 
bearing the battles. With a government drawing for itself lines 
parallel with those of enlightened western nations, increasing the 
freedom of its people, the power of the people's legislators, and 
the honesty of the people's courts, Japan has every right to name 
herself as worthy of a place in full brotherhood with the family 
of civilized nations. 



PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JAPANESE 
PEOPLE. 



Difference of Opinion as to the True Significance of Tlieir Rapid Adoption of Western 
Civilizati in— Pliysique of Man and Woman— Two Great Classes of tlie Population— The 
Samurai— The Agricultural Laborer— Wedding Ceremonies— Elopements— Japanese Babies 
—Sports of Childliood and of Age— Dress of Man and Woman— Food— Homes of the People 
—Family Lite— Art, Science, Medicine, Music— Language and Literature— Religion. 

In such a state of transition are the Japanese people them- 
selves, as truly as the government, that it is difficult to describe 
their personal characteristics. Different observers reach different 
conclusions as to their personality. One affirms that great quick- 
ness of imitation and judgment in discovering what is wortli imi- 
tating, seem to be tlie prominent cliaracteristics of the Japanese. 
They want originality and independence of thought, and character 
which accompanies it. The Japanese are not slow in adopting 
the inventions of modern civilization, and even in modifying them 
to suit their own convenience, but, says another observer, that 
they will ever add anytliing of importance to them may be 
doubted. The same is true in a political point of view. The 
more enlightened of the Japanese are already beginning to recog- 
nize the superiority of the European forms of government. Tlie 
upper classes are all sedulously imitating Paris and London 
fashions of dress. In our own country we have seen the preva- 
lence of an offensive Anglomania among certain classes of society 
in the larger cities, but in Japan a corresponding mania for the 
forms of western civilization has become almost universal, and is 
reaching the real bulk of the nation. Such extraordinary capacity 
for change may mark a versatile but unreliable race ; for it seems 
hard to believe that a people who are parting with their ancestral 
notions with such a total absence of any pangs of sorrow, will be 
likely to adhere with much steadfastness to a new order of things. 
On the other hand, other students of this movement take it to be 
only a most gratifying indication that Japan was a nation which 
had outgrown its narrow limits of thought and learning, ready to 
adopt whatever was good, and yearning for it when the oppor- 

(283) 



284 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RACE. 

tunitj came, with a strength that made rapid assimilation of ideas 
entirely proper, and no sign of instability. It is to be hoped that 
the latter interpretation is the right one. 

In moral character the average Japanese is frank, honest, faith- 
ful, kind, gentle, courteous, confiding, affectionate, filial, and 
loyal. Love of truth for its own sake, chastity, and temperance 
are not characteristic virtues. A high sense of honor is cultivated 
by the Samurai. In spirit the average artisan and farmer is lamb- 
like. In intellectual capacity the actual merchant is mean, and 
his moral character low. He is beneath the Chinaman in this re- 
spect. The male Japanese is far less overbearing and more 
chivalrous to woman than any other Asiatic. In political knowl- 
edge, or gregarious ability, the countryman is a baby and the city 
artisan a boy. The peasant is a pronounced pagan, with supersti- 
tion ingrained into his inmost nature. In reverence to elders and 
to antiquity, obedience to parents, gentle manners, universal 
courtesy, and generous impulses the Japanese are the peers of 
any and superior to many peoples of Christendom. The idea of 
filial obedience has been developed into fanaticism and is the 
main blot of paganism and superstition. 

The Japanese in physique are much of the same type as the 
Spaniards, and inhabitants of the south of France. They are of 
middle or low stature. The men are about five feet six inches in 
height or a trifle less on an average, while the women rarely ex- 
ceed five feet. When dressed the Japanese look strong, well pro- 
portioned men, but when in the exceedingly slight costumes 
which they very often are pleased to adopt, it is then apparent 
that though their bodies are robust their legs are short and slight. 
Their heads are somewhat out of proportion to their bodies, being 
generally large and sunk a little between the shoulders, but they 
have small feet and delicate hands. The resemblance the 
Japanese bear to the Chinese is not nearly as marked as popular 
opinion would have it. The faces of the former are longer and 
more regular, their noses more prominent, and their eyes less 
sloped. The men are naturally very hirsute, but they never wear 
beards. Their hair is glossy, thick, and always black. Their 
eyes are black, their teeth white and slightly prominent. The 
shade of their skin is totally unlike the yellow complexions of the 



JAPANESE PHYSIQUE. 



285 



Chinese ; in some cases it is very swarthy or copper colored, but 
the most usual tint is an olive brown. Children and young people 
have usually quite pink complexions. 

The women follow the Chinese type a little closer. The eyes 
are narrower and sloped upward, and the head is small. Like 
the men their hair is glossy and very black, but it never reaches 
the length of American women's hair. They have clear, some- 
times even perfectly white skin, especially among the aristocracy, 
oval faces, and slender, graceful forms. Their manners are 
peculiarly artless and simple. But the harmony of the whole is 
spoiled in many instances by an ugly depression of the chest, 
which is sometimes observed 
in those who are otherwise 
handsomest and best formed. 

About the end of the eighth 
century a reform was insti- 
tuted in the military system 
of the empire, which had be- 
come unsatisfactory and de- 
fective. The court decided 
that all those among the rich 
peasants who had capacity 
and were skilled in archery 
and horsemanship, should 
compose the military class, 
and that the remainder, the 
weak and feeble, should con- 
tinue to till the soil and apply 
themselves to agriculture. 
This was one of the most 

significant of all the changes in the history of Japan. Its fruits 
are seen to-day in the social constitution of the Japanese people. 
Though there are many classes, there are but two great divisions 
of the Japanese, the military and the agricultural. 

This change wrought a complete severance of the soldier and 
the farmer. It lifted up one part of the people to a plane of life 
on which travel, adventure, the profession and pursuit of arms, 
letters, and the cultivation of honor and chivalry were possible, 




DRESSING THE HAIR. 



286 CASTE IN JAPAN. 

and by which that brightest type of Japanese men, the Samurai 
v/as produced. This is the class which for centuries has monopo- 
lized arms, polite learning, patriotism, and intellect of Japan. 
They are the men whose minds have been open to learn, from 
whom sprung the ideas that once made and later overthrew the 
feudal system, which wrought the mighty reforms that swept away 
the shogunate in 1868, and restored the mikado to ancient powei-, 
who introduced those ideas that now rule Japan, and sent their 
sons abroad to study the civilization of the west. To the 
Samurai Japan looks to-day for safety in war and progress in 
peace. The Samurai is the soul of the nation. In other lands the 
priestly and the military castes were formed, in Japan one and 
the same class held the sword and the pen ; the other class, the 
agricultural, remained unchanged. 

Left to the soil to till it, to live and die upon it, the Japanese 
farmer has remained the same to-day that he was then. Like the 
wheat, that for successive ages is planted as wheat, sprouts, 
beards and fills as wheat, the peasant with his horizon bounded by 
his rice fields and water courses or the timbered hills, his intellect 
laid away for safe keeping in the priest's hands, is the son of the 
soil. He cares little who rules him unless he is taxed beyond the 
power of flesh and blood to bear, or an overmeddlesome official 
policy touches his land to transfer, sell or divide it. Then he 
rises to rebel. In time of war he is a disinterested and a passive 
spectator and he does not fight. He changes masters with 
apparent unconcern. Amidst all the ferment of ideas induced by 
the contact of western civilization with Asiatic within the last 
four decades, the farmer stolidly remains conservative. He knows 
not nor cares to hear of it and hates it because of the heavier 
taxes it imposes upon him. 

The domestic solemnities of the Japanese, marriage especially, 
are made the subjects of deep and careful meditation. In the 
upper classes marriage is arranged between two young people 
when the bridegroom has reached his twentieth and the bride her 
sixteenth year. The will of the parents is almost without excep- 
tion the dominating power in the matrimonial arrangements, 
which are carried out according to agreement among the relatives, 
but love affairs of a spontaneous kind form a large element in the 



MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 287 

romantic literature of Japan. The wedding is preceded by a be- 
trothal, which ceremony offers an occasion for the members of 
both families to meet one another ; and it not unfrequently hap- 
pens that the future couple then learn for the first time the wishes 
of their parents respecting their union. If perchance the bride- 
groom elect is not satisfied with the choice, the young woman re- 
turns home again. With the introduction of other western ideas, 
this inconvenient custom is little by little falling into disuse. 
Nowadays, if a young man wishes to marry into a family of good 
position or one which it would be advantageous to his prospects to 
enter, he endeavors first to see the young lady, and then if she 
pleases him he sends a mediator, chosen usually from amongst his 
married friends, and the betrothal is arranged without any further 
obstacle. Even more American-like than this, however, there are 
many instances, and the number is constantly increasing, in which 
the match is the result of mutual affection, and sometimes elope- 
ments are known to occur among the best families. 

When things are carried through conventionally, the betrothal 
and wedding are usually solemnized on the same day and without 
the assistance of any minister of worship. The customary cere- 
monies are all of a homely nature, but at the same time are ex- 
tremely complicated and numerous. Upon the day fixed, the 
trousseau of the young bride and all the presents she has received, 
are brought to the home of the bridegroom, where the ceremony 
is to be performed, and arranged in the apartments set apart for 
the affair. The bride arrives soon afterward, dressed in white and 
escorted by her parents. The groom, arrayed in gala costume, 
receives her at the entrance of the house, and conducts her into 
the hall where the betrothal takes place. Here grand prepa- 
rations have been made. The altar of the domestic gods has been 
decorated with images of the patron saints of the family and with 
different plants, each having its symbolical meaning. 

When all have taken their places according to the recognized 
form of precedence, the ceremony is begun by two young girls, 
who hand around unlimited quantities of said to the guests. 
These two damsels are surnamed the male and female butterfly, 
the emblems of conjugal felicity, because according to popular 
notion butterflies always fly about in couples. The decisive cere- 



288 THE WEDDING CEREMONY. 

mony is tinged with a symbolism which has a considerable touch 
of poetry in it. The two butterflies, holding between them a two- 
necked bottle, approach and offer it to the engaged couple to 
drink together from the two mouths of the bottle till it is emptied, 
which signifies that husband and wife must drain together the cup 
of life whether it contain nectar or gall ; they must share equally 
the joys and sorrows of existence. 

The Japanese is the husband of one wife only, but he is at lil 
erty to introduce several concubines under the family roof. This 
is done in all classes of society, especially amongst the daimios. 
It is asserted that in many of the noble families the legitimate wife 
not only evinces no jealousy, but has even a certain pleasure in 
seeing the number of her household thus augmented, as it supplies 
her with so many additional servants. In the middle classes, 
however, the custom is often the cause of bitter family dis- 
sentions. 

The heavy expenses of the marriage ceremonies often occasion 
considerable domestic strife and misery, at least if the}'' are cele- 
brated according to all the established conventionalities. Debts 
are then incurred which perhaps the young couple are unable to 
meet, so that when other expenses grow, and trouble or misfor- 
tune overtake them, they are speedily plunged into the deepest 
distress and indigence. The natural consequence of these arbi- 
trary customs is the increase of runaway matches. The elope- 
ment, however, is usually wisely winked at by the parents, who 
feign great lamentation and anger, then finally assemble their 
neighbors, pardon their recreant children, and circulate the inevi- 
table saki, and the marriage is considered as satisfactory as if per- 
formed with all the requisite formalities. 

The birth of a child is another occasion for the meeting of the 
whole circle of relations, and the consumption of a great man; 
more bumpers of saki. The baptism of the young Japanese 
citizen takes place thirty days later, when the infant is taken to 
the temple of the family divinity to receive its first name. The 
father has previously written three different names upon three 
separate slips of paper, which are handed over to the officiating 
bonze or priest. The latter throws them into the air, and the 
piece of paper which in falling first touches the ground contains 



JAPANESE BABIES. 



289 



the name which is to be given to the child. There are no god- 
parents, but several friends of the family declare themselves the 
infant's protectors and make it several presents, among which is 
a fan if it be a boy, or a pot of rouge if a girl. 

The Japanese child is early taught to endure hardships, and is 
subjected from its infancy to all the small miseries of life, so far 
as may be thought wise for its training. The mother nurses it 
till it is two years of age, and carries it continually about with 
her attached to her back for con- 
venience. The children are daintily 
pretty, chubby, rosy, sparkling-eyed. 
The children's heads are shaved in 
all curious fashions, some with little 
topknots, and others with bald spots. 
The way the babies are carried is an 
improvement upon the Indian fashion. 
He is lugged on the back of his 
mother or his sister, maybe scarcely 
older than himself, either strapped / 
loosely but safely, with his head just 
peering above the shoulder of the 
bearer, or else enclosed in a fold of 
the garment she wears. It is a pop- 
ular belief among travelers that 
Japanese babies are the best in the 
world and never cry, but the Japanese 
themselves claim no such distinction 
for the little ones, very proud of them 
though the}^ are, and aflfirm that they 
have their fits of temper as well as American babies. 

Education is not forced too early upon the children, but nature 
is allowed its own way during the first years of childhood. Toys, 
pleasures, fetes of all kinds, are liberally indulged in. One writer 
has said that Japan is the paradise of babies ; not only is this true 
but it is also a very delightful abode for all who love play. The 
contrast between the Japanese and Chinese character in this re- 
spect is radical. The whole character, manners, and even the 
dress of the sedate and dignified Chinaman, seems to be in keep- 




CHILD CARRYING BABY. 



290 SPORTS OF YOUNG AND OLD. 

iiig with that aversion to rational amusement and athletic exer- 
cises which characterize that adult population. In Japan, on the 
contrary, one sees that children of the larger growth enjoy with 
equal zest, games which are the same or nearly the same as those 
of the little ones. Certain it is that the adults do all in their 
power to provide for the children their full quota of play and 
harmless sports. 

A very noticeable change has passed over the Japanese people 
since the recent influx of foreigners, in respect of their love of 
amusements. Their sports are by no means as numerous or 
elaborate as formerly, and they do not enter into them with the 
enthusiasm that formerly characterized them. The children's 
festivals and sports are rapidly losing their importance, and some 
are rarely seen. There is no country in the world in which there 
are so many toy shops for the sale of the things which delight 
children. Street theatrical shows are common. Sweet meats of 
a dozen strange sorts are carried by men who do tricks in gym- 
nastics to please the little ones. In every Japanese city there are 
scores if not hundreds of men and women who obtain a livelihood 
by amusing the children. There are indoor games and outdoor 
games, games for the day time and games for the evening. 
Japanese kite flying and top spinning are famous the world over, 
and experts in these sports come to exhibit their -adeptness in our 
own country. In the northern provinces, where the winters are 
severe, Japanese boys have the same sports with snow and ice, 
coasting, sliding, fighting mimic battles with snowballs, that are 
known to our own American boys. Dinners, tea parties, and 
weddings, keeping store, and playing doctor, are imitated in 
Japanese children's games. 

On the third day of the third month is held the wonderful 
" Feast of Dolls " which is the day especially devoted to the girls, 
and to them it is the greatest day in the year. The greatest day 
hi the year for the boys is on the fifth day of the fifth month, 
wlien they celebrate what is known as the " Feast of Flags." 

A Japanese attains his majority at fifteen years of age. As 
soon as this time has arrived he takes a new name, and quietly 
discards the pleasures of infancy for the duties of a practical life. 
His first care, if he belong to the middle classes, is the choice of 



CHOOSING A BUSINESS. 291 

a trade or profession. The opportunities for this choice are much 
greater than in China, just as the scope of Japanese learning and 
life has increased in the last quarter century. Practically all of 
the businesses and trades that we know in our own country are 
to day known in Japan, those which were not there before, having 
crept in with the advent of the foreigners. The Japanese young 
man, if he is -to be a merchant or to learn a trade, serves an ap- 
prenticeship for a period sufficient to fit hiin for the mastery of 
liis work, and then it is he provides himself with a wife. 

The dress of the Japanese is changing in harmony with the in- 
troduction of other foreign habits. Custom has always obliged 
married women to shave their eyebrows and blacken their teeth, 
but of late years the practice has been decreasing and now it does 
not prevail among the better classes and in the larger cities. 
They have also made a most immoderate use of paint, covering 
their brow, cheeks, and neck with thick coats of rouge and white. 
Some have even gone so far as to gild their lips, but tlie more 
modest have been content to color them with carmine, and the 
excessive use of paints is diminishing. 

The kirimon, a kind of long, open dressing gown, is worn by 
every one, men and women alike. It is a little longer and of bet- 
ter quality for the women, who cross it in front and confine it by 
a long wide piece of silk, or other material tied in a quaint 
fashion at the back. The men keep theirs in its place by tying a 
long straight scarf around them. The Japanese use no linen, the 
women alone wearing a chemise of silk crepe, but it must be re- 
membered that they bathe daily or even oftener, and that sim- 
plicity of dress is affected by all. 

The middle classes wear in addition to the kirimon, a doublet 
and pantaloons. These are also worn in winter by men of the 
lower orders, the pantaloons fitting tightly, and made of checked 
cotton. The peasants and porters usually wear a loose overall in 
summer, made of some light paper material, and in winter not un- 
frequently co'xsisting of coarse straw. The women also envelop 
themselves in one or several thickly wadded mantles. Linen 
gloves with one division for the tliuinb are very generally worn. 
Sandals are made of plaited straw, and in bad weather are dis- 
carded for wooden clogs, raised from the ground by means of two 



292 



THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



bits of wood under the the and heel. As might naturally be ex- 
pected, locomotion under such circumstances is performed with 
difficulty, and the hobbling gate which these props necessitate has 
often been commented on. This peculiarity is most noticeable 
among the women, whose naturally easy gait is almost as much 
diverted from its normal movement by these small stilts as that of 
their sisters in the west by their high heeled shoes. The costume 
of the country is exactly alike for both the lower and higher 
classes, with the difference that the latter always wear silk 
material. The costumes worn by officials, and those of the 

nobility, are dis- 
tinguished by the 
amplitude of the 
folds and the rich- 
ness of the texture. 
Wide flowing 
pantaloons are 
often substituted 
for the kirimon, 
which trail on the 
ground, complete- 
ly concealing the 
feet, and give the 
wearer tlie appear- 
ance of walking on 
his knees, which 
indeed is the delu- 
sion it is intended 
to produce. A kind of overcoat with wide sleeves reaching to 
the hips completes the costume. 

The dwelling houses of the Japanese are well adapted to their 
manners of life, except that they are not always sufficient pro- 
tection against severe cold. Rich and poor live side by side, 
although in Tokio there are still traces of the castes of the feudal 
age, and there are also growing tendencies in the rising mercantile 
and moneyed classes to separate themselves from the common 
mass. There are now great portions of the capital densely popu- 




JAPANESE BATH. 



DWELLINGS OF THE JAPANESE. 293 

lated by the working classes only, and quite destitute of any open 
spaces of practical value for health and recreation. 

The proverb " Every man's house is his castle," might very 
readily be appropriated by the Japanese, whose home, however 
humble it may be in all other respects, is always guarded by a 
moat. In a feudal mansion the moat was usually deep enough to 
prove a genuine obstacle. While it is still almost universally re- 
tained, the muddy water is hidden in summer time by the leaves 
of the lotus, and the bridges are not drawn. The smaller gentry 
imitate the grandeur of those above them, and when at last we 
come down to the lowest level we still find a miniature moat 
which is often dry, of a foot or so in breadth, and at most about 
two inches deep. 

In houses of some pretensions there is an enbankment behind 
the moat, with a hedge growing above it. Behind this there is 
either a wall or fence of bamboo, tiles, or plaster. As the name 
of the street is not to be found at the street corner as with us, it 
is repeated on every doorway. The towns are divided into wards 
and blocks, and the numbers of the houses are often confused and 
misleading. A slip of white wood is nailed on one of the posts 
of the gate, and is inscribed with the name of the street or block, 
the number, name of house holder, numbers and sexes of house- 
hold. The gates of the larger houses are heavy, adorned with 
copper or brass mountings, and often studded with large nails. 

When one enters by the gate there is generally found a court, 
from the sides of which the open verandas of the building may be 
reached. The verandas are high and there is a special entrance 
by heavy wooden stairs. The court is sometimes paved with 
large stones, and sometimes it is left bare or covered with turf. 
The gardens even of somewhat humble mansions are graced with 
carved stone lanterns. The well placed near the kitchen often 
has a rim of stone around it, and the bucket is raised by a beam 
or a long bamboo. 

In front of the doorway there is a small space unfloored called 
the doma, where one takes off his shoes after announcing himself 
by calling, or by striking a gong suspended by the door post. 
There is often only one story in Japanese houses, and very rarely 
more than two- Almost all of them are built of wood; the ground 



294 INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. 

floor is raised about four feet above the ground, the walls are' 
made of planks covered Vi^ith coarse mats ; and the roof is sup- 
ported by four pillars. In a two-storied house the second story is 
generally built more solidly than the first; experience having 
shown that the edifice can thus better resist the shock of an 
earthquake. Sometimes the walls are plastered with a coating of 
soft clay or varnish, and are decorated with gildings aiid paint- 
ings. The stair to the second story is very steep. The ceilings 
are composed of very thin, broad planks, and are lower than we 
are accustomed to, but it must be remembered that the people do 
not sit on chairs and have no high beds or tables. Doorways, or 
rather the grooved lintels in which the screen doors slide, are very 
low and the Japanese, who are always bowing, seem to enjoy 
having an unusual number of them to pass through in extensive 
houses. No room is completely walled in, but each one opens on 
one or more sides completely into the garden, the street, or the 
adjoining room. Sliding shutters, with tissue paper windows, the 
carpentry of which is careful and exact, move in wooden grooves 
almost on a level with the floor, which is covered with padded 
woven mats of rushes. As a protection against the severities of 
the weather rain shutters are also used. 

All Japanese dwellings have a cheerful, well-cared-for appear- 
ance, which in a great measure is the result of two causes ; first, 
that every one is bound constantly to renew the paper coverings 
of the outside panels, and next that the frequent fires which each 
time make immense ravages often render it necessary to recon- 
struct an entire district. In the interior the houses are generally 
divided into two suites of apartments, the one side being appor- 
tioned to the women as private rooms, and the other side being 
used for the reception rooms. These apartments are all separated 
from one another by partitions made of slight wooden frames, 
upon which small square bits of white paper are pasted, or else a 
kind of screen is used which can be moved at pleasure and the 
room enlarged or contracted according as the occasion requires. 
Towards nightfall these screens are usually folded up so as to 
allow a free passage of air throughout the house. 

The mats of rushes or rice straw which carpet the floors are 
about three inches thick, and are soft to the touch. They are of 



BEDS AND OTHER FURNITURE. 



295 



viniform size, about six feet by three, and this fact dominates all 
architecture in Japan. Estimates for building houses and the 
cutting of wood rest upon this traditional custom. The inhab- 
itants never soil them with their boots but always walk bare- 
footed about the house. The mat in Japan answers the purpose 
of all ordinary furniture, and takes tlie place of our chairs, tables, 
.md beds. For writing purposes only do they use a low round 
^ble about a foot high, which is kept in a cupboard and only 
'-rought out when a letter has to be written. This they do 
-reeling before the table, which they carefully put away again 




JAPANESE COUCH. 



when the letter is finished. Tlie meals are laid upon square 
tables of very slender dimensions, around which the whole family 
gather, sitting on their heels. 

In the walls are recesses with sliding doors into which the bed- 
ding is thrust in the daytime. At bedtime out of these recesses 
are taken the soft cotton stuffed mattresses and the thick cover- 
lets of silk or cotton which have been rolled up all day, and these 
are spread upon the mats. The Japanese pillows are of wood, 
with the upper portions stuffed or padded, and in form something 
like a large flat iron. Sometimes each one contains a little 



296 CONFLAGRATIONS. 

drawer in which the hTdies put their liairpins. When a Japanese 
has taken off his day garments he rests his head on this wooden 
pillow and composes himself to sleep. Everything is put away 
in the morning, all the partitions are opened to give air, the mats 
are carefully swept, and the now completely empty chamber ia 
transformed during the day into an office, sitting room, or dining 
room, to become again the sleeping apartment the following 
night. 

Clothes are kept in plaited bamboo boxes usually covered with 
black or dark green waterproof paper. The furniture is very 
simple, and there are often in the best houses no chairs, no tables, 
no bedsteads. There may be some low, short-legged side tables 
of characteristic Japanese pattern and one or two costly vases or 
other ornaments, a few pictures which are changed in deference 
to guests and seasons, some flowers or dwarf trees in vases and a 
lamp or two. There are, however, two pieces of furniture which 
are to be found in the houses of every class. These are the 
brazier and the pipe box, for the Japanese is a great tea drinker 
and a constant smoker. Every hour in the day his hot water 
must be ready for him, and the brazier kept burning both day 
and night both in summer and winter. 

The principal meal takes place about the middle of the day, 
and after it the family indulge themselves with several hours' 
sleep, so that at this time the streets are almost deserted. In the 
evening they have another meal, and then devote the rest of the 
time till bedtime to all kinds of amusements. In the highest 
Japanese circles the dinner hour is sometimes enlivened by music 
from an orchestra stationed in an adjoining room. 

In summer a well-planned Japanese house is the very ideal of 
coolness, grace and comfort. In winter it is the extreme of 
misery. There are no fire-places and there is unmitigated venti- 
lation. People keep themselves warm by holding themselves 
close over some morsels of red hot charcoal in a brazier, and frost 
bite is very common. At night, when cold winds blow, a heat- 
ing apparatus is put beneath the heavy cotton coverlets. It often 
gets overturned ; a watchman from his ladder-like tower sees afar 
off a dull red glow, bells begin to clang, and soon the city is in 
an uproar of excitement over another conflagration. In a few 



JAPANESE MINIATURE GARDENS. 297 

hours a great fan-shaped gap has appeared in the city. One goes 
at day-break to find the scene of destruction, but it has already 
almost disappeared. Crowds of carpenters have rushed in, and 
have already done much to erect on the hot and smoking ruins 
wooden houses nearly as good as those swept away by the fire of 
the night before. 

The yashikis or palaces in which the people of rank reside, are 
nothing more than ordinary houses grouped together and sur- 
rounded by whitewashed outhouses, with latticed windows of 
black wood. These outhouses serve a two-fold purpose, as habi- 
tations for the domestics, and as a wall of the enclosure. Always 
low, and usually rectangular, they look very much like ware- 
houses or barracks. The palace of the sovereign has, however, a 
certain character of its own. It is a perfect labyrinth of courts 
and streets formed by the many separate houses, pavilions, and 
corridors or simple wooden partitions. The roofs are supported 
by horizontal beams varnished white, or gilded at the extremities, 
and decorated with small pieces of sculpture, many of which are 
very beautiful works of art. The ancient palace of the Tycoons 
is remarkable for boldness and richness of outline. Everything 
breathes a spirit of the times when the power and prosperity of 
the shogunate was at its height. Upon the ceilings of gold, 
sculptured beams cross each other in squares, the angles where 
they meet being marked by a plate of gilt bronze of very elegant 
design. 

The greatest novelties in the eyes of foreigners are the gardens 
attached to every house. The smallest tradesman has his own 
little plot of ground where he may enjoy the delights of solitude, 
take his siesta, or devote himself to copious potations of tea and 
saki. These gardens are often of exceedingly small size. They 
consist of a quaint collection of dwarf shrubs, miniature lakes full 
of gold fish, lilliputian walks in the middle of diminutive flower 
beds, tiny streams over which are little green arches to imitate 
bridges, and finally arbors or bowers beneath which a rabbit 
might scarcely find room to nestle. 

The Japanese are as strict in the observance of etiquette at a 
funeral as at their marriage ceremonies. The rites take place 
both at the time of the actual interment, and afterwards at the 



298 FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 

festivals celebrated in honor of the gods on these occasions. 
There are two kinds of funerals, interment and cremation. Most 
of the Japanese make known during life either to the heir or to 
some intimate friend their wishes respecting the mode of the 
disposal of their remains. When the father or mother in a family 
is seized with a mortal illness and all hope of recovery is past and 
the end approaching, the soiled garments worn by the dying per- 
son are removed and exchanged for perfectly clean ones. The 
last wishes of the dying one are then recorded on paper. As soon 
as life has departed all the relations give way to lamentations ; 
the body is carried into another room, covered with a curtain and 
surrounded by screens. In the higher classes the body is watched 
for two days, but in the lower it is buried a day after death. 

Contrary to the customs at marriage ceremonies, the bonzes or 
priests preside over all the funeral rites. It is they who watch 
beside the dead until the time for interment. This is usually 
carried out by men who make it their profession. The corpse is 
placed in a coffin, somewhat of the shape of a round tub, in a 
squatting position, with the head bowed, the legs bent under, and 
the arms crossed ; the lid of the coffin is then fastened down by 
wooden pegs. The funeral procession proceeds to the temple, the 
bonzes marching first, some carrying flags, others different sym- 
bols, such as little white boxes full of flowers, others wringing 
small hand-bells. Then follows the corpse, preceded by a long 
tablet upon which is inscribed the new name given to the 
deceased. The eldest son follows, and then the family, intimate 
friends, and domestics. The nearest relations are dressed in 
white which is the color worn for mourning. 

When the procession arrives at the temple the coffin is placed 
before the image of the god and then various ceremonies com- 
mence, the length of which is regulated by the rank of the de- 
ceased, as with us. After that all the friends and acquaintances 
return home, whilst the relations turn to the place where the 
body is to be laid. If the deceased has expressed the desire that 
his body should be burned, the coffin is carried from the temple 
to a small crematory a short distance away. It is there placed 
upon a kind of stone scaffold, at the base of which a fire is kept 
burning until the body is consumed. The men employed in this 



PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 299 

work draw out the bones from the ashes by means of sticks, the 
remaining ashes are placed in an urn, and carried to the tomb by 
the relations. The burials of the poor outcasts from society are 
very simple. The body is interred at once without entering in 
the temple, or else it is burnt in some waste spot. 

Japanese cemeteries are most carefully cherished spots, and are 
always bright with vendure and flowers. Each family has its 
own little enclosure, where several simple commemorative stones 
stand. Once a year a festival for the dead is held. It is cele- 
brated at night. The cemetery is illuminated by thousands of 
colored fires, and the whole population resort there, and eat, 
drink, and enjoy themselves in honor of their dead ancestors. 

Their incapacity for conceiving sorrow is one of the most 
characteristic features of the Japanese. Perhaps this psychologi- 
cal phenomenon is due to the influences amidst which this happy 
people have the privilege of living. It is an indisputable fact that 
where nature is bright and beautiful the inhabitants themselves 
of that particular spot, like the scenery, seem to expand under 
its sweet influence and to become bright and happy. Such is the 
case with the Japanese, who while yielding almost unconsciously 
to these influences, deepen them by their eager pursuit of all 
things gay and beautiful. 

Japan is progressive enough that it has a compulsory system of 
education, which is sure to be ultimately fatal to idolatrous 
religions. There are more than three million children in the 
elementary schools, not to mention those in the higher institu- 
tions. The ability to read and write is almost universal among 
the people. Steady improvement is observed from year to year, 
in the attendance and quality of the government schools. The 
various schools in connection with the protestant and Roman 
missions, which are numerous and influential are also well at- 
tended and constantly growing. A large number also of the 
wealthier classes have their children taught privately at home. 
The average attendance of the Japanese children at the schools is 
nearly one-half the total number of school age. Education is 
very highly esteemed by every class, and all are willing to make 
genuine sacrifices to obtain it for their children. 

Penmanship is laid great stress upon, and there are many 



300 MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SCIENCE. 

different styles in use. The blackboard is used in all schools 
now, and the artistic tendencies of the people are often well dis- 
played on it. The Arabic numerals are fast displacing the old 
Chinese system. A great many of the methcjds of European and 
American teaching have been introduced into Japan, and their 
use is constantly on the increase. 

Universities and academies supported by the government have 
been chiefly under the direction of American and European pro- 
fessors, and the western languages are taught everywhere. In 
addition to this educational element introduced into the country, 
there is that brought in by the large number of Japanese young 
men who have been sent to the universities of the United States, 
Germany, France, and England to complete their education. In 
our own colleges these young men have ranked with the highest 
as linguists, scientists, and orators. The influence that they have 
exerted in Japan, where they have invariably taken a high posi- 
tion, either officially or educationally, has been most beneficial to 
the advance of learning in the island empire. 

The excessive cleanliness of the Japanese, the simplicity of 
their apparel, which allows their bodies to be so much exposed to 
the open air, added to the salubrity of their country, might rea- 
sonably lead one to imagine that they enjoy excellent health. 
Such however is not the case. Diseases of the skin, and chronic 
and incurable complaints are very prevalent. The hot baths are 
the great remedies for everything, but in certain cases the aid of 
the physicians is enlisted. These form a class of society which 
has existed from a very early date, and enjoy certain privileges. 
They are divided into three classes, the court physicians, who are 
not permitted to practice elsewhere, the army physicians, and 
lastly the common physicians, not employed by the government, 
who attend all classes of the community. As no formalities used 
to be required for the practice of medicine, each member entered 
on the career at his pleasure and practiced according to his own 
theories on the subject. It is a profession often handed down 
from father to son, but it is not a lucrative one, and is looked upon 
as an office of little importance or consideration. 

Medical men nevertheless abound in Japan, and in addition to 
recognized practitioners, there is a class of quacks exactly answer- 



MUSIC. 



301 



ing to those of our own country. Their science principally par- 
takes of the nature of sorcery. Where hot baths fail to produce 
the desired effect, they have recourse to acupuncture and cauter- 
isation. Acupuncture consists in pricl^ing with a needle the part 
affected, a mode of healing which has been practiced from time 
immemorial in the east. After the skin has been stretched suffi- 
ciently tight, the needle is thrust in perpendicularly either by 
rolling between the fingers or by a direct gentle pressure, or else 
by striking it lightly with a small hammer made for the purpose. 
Cauterisation is performed with little cones called moxas, formed 




GEISHA GIRLS PLAYING JAPANESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



of dried wormwood leaves, and prepared in such a manner as to 
consume slowly. One or more of these is applied to the diseased 
part and set alight. The mode of cauterising wounds has fre- 
quently the effect of strongly exciting the nervous system, but 
does not seem to improve the general health of the patient ma- 
terially. The national university of Tokio has a medical depart- 
ment in connection with it, which teaches medical science accord- 
ing to our own western methods. Hospitals exist in the large 
cities of Japan which are similarly equipped to those of our own 



302 MUSIC. 

country, and are under the direction of physicians and surgeons, 
most of whom are either Europeans and Americans, or Japanese 
who have been educated in medical colleges abroad. Many young 
women of Japan have come to America to take courses in nursing 
in our great hospitals and training schools, and on their return to 
Japan are spreading the knowledge they have thus gained. 

Music is one of the most cultivated of the fine arts of Japan, 
and Japanese tradition accords it a divine origin. The Japanese 
have many stringed, wind, and percussion instruments, but the 
general favorite is the sam-sin or guitar with three strings. There 
are also the lutes, several kinds of drums and tambourines, fifes, 

sy )u:u u y J y ^^L 

JAPANESE ALPHABET, NEW. 

clarionets, and flageolets. The Japanese have no idea of harmony. 
A number of them will often perform together, but they are never 
in tune. They are not more advanced in melody ; their airs recall 
neither the savage strains of the forest nor the scientific music of 
the west. In spite of this their music has the power of charming 
them for hours together, and it is only among the utterly unedu- 
cated classes that a young girl is to be found unable to accompany 
herself in a song on the sam-sin. 

In the department of jurisprudence great progress has been made. 
Scarcely any nation on earth can show a more revolting list of 
horrible methods of punishment and torture in the past, and none 
^an show greater improvement in so short a time. The cruel and 



LAW AND LANGUAGE. 303 

blood-thirsty code was mostly borrowed from China. Since the 
restoration, revised statutes and regulations have greatly decreased 
the list of capital punishments, reformed the condition of prisons, 
and made legal processes more in harmony with mercy and 
justice. The use of torture to obtain testimony is now entirely 
abolished. Law schools have also been established and lawyers 
are allowed to plead, thus giving the accused the assistance of 
counsel for his defense. 

The Japanese tongue has for a long time been regarded merely 

-\ ? : ^ 2- J: ^ li 

\ t ^ ^ 

JAPANESE ALPHABET, OLD. 

as an offshoot of the Chinese language, or at any rate as being 
very nearly connected with it. Study however, and the com- 
parison of the two languages has rectified this error. Japanese 
understand Chinese writing because the Chinese characters form 
part of the numerous kinds in use in Japan. This is easily under- 
stood when it is remembered that Chinese characters represent 
neither letters nor meaningless sounds, which are only the con- 
stituent parts of a word, but are words themselves, or rather 
the ideas that these words express ; consequently the same ideas 



304 LITERATURE OF JAPAN. 

can be coramiinicated although expressed by different words to 
any one who is acquainted with the signification of the characters. 
The Japanese language is very soft and agreeable to the ear, but 
travelers declare that no one born out of the country could pos- 
sibly pronounce some of the words. They have a system of forty- 
eight syllabic signs, which can be doubled by means of signs added 
to the consonants, which modify the sound, and render it harder 
or softer. This system, it is said, dates from the eighth century 
and can be written in four different series of characters. 

Japanese literature comprises books on science, biography, 
geography, travels, philosophy, and natural history, as well as 
poetry, dramatic works, romances, and encyclopedias. The latter 
seem to be little more than picture books, with explanatory 
notes, arranged like other Japanese dictionaries, sometimes alpha- 
betically, but more often quite fancifully and without any attempt 
at scientific classification. The poets of Japan strive to express 
the most comprehensive ideas in the fewest possible words, and 
to employ words with double meanings for the sake of tj^pical 
allusions. They also delight in descriptions or similes furnished 
by the scenery, or the rich variety of natural productions with 
which they are surrounded. 

Of their older books on science none are of any value but those 
which treat of astronomy. The proof of their progress in this 
science is afi"orded by the fact that almanacs, which were at first 
brought from China, have now become very general and are com- 
posed in Japan. The Japanese, until western education began 
to have its influence over them, had only a slight knowledge of 
mathematics, trigonometry, mechanics, or engineering. History 
and geography are very fairly cultivated. Reading is the favorite 
recreation of both sexes in Japan. The women confine them- 
selves to the perusal of romances, and those works on etiquette 
and kindred subjects prepared for them. Every young girl who 
can afford it has her subscription to a library, which for the sum 
of a few copper coins per month furnishes her with as many 
books, ancient and modern, as she can devour. Except for their 
titles, these productions seem all formed on one pattern. In the 
choice of their characters and their subjects the authors seem by 



SHINTO. 



305 



no means desirous of breaking through the narrow limits within 
which prejudice and custom have confined them. 

The ancient religion of the Japanese is called " Kami no 
michi," way, or doctrine of the gods. The Chinese form of the 
same is Shinto, and from this foreigners have called it Shintoism. 
In its purity the chief characteristic of this religion is the worship 
of ancestors and the deifi- 
cation of emperors, heroes, 
and scholars. The adora- 
tion of the personified 
forces of nature enters 
largely into it. It employs 
no idols, images, or effigies 
in its worship, and teaches 
no doctrine of the immor- 
tality of the soul. Shinto 
has no moral code, and no 
accurately defined system 
of ethics or belief. The 
leading principle of its 
adherents is imitation of 
the illustrious deeds of 
their ancestors, and they 
are to prove themselves 
worthy of their descent by 
the purity of their lives. 
The priests of Shinto are 
designated according to 
their rank. Sometimes 
they receive titles from 
the emperor, and the 
higher ranks of the priest- 
hood are court nobles. 
Ordinarily they dress like other people, but are robed in white 
when officiating, or in court dress when in court. They marry, 
rear families, and do not shave their heads. The office is usually 
hereditary. 

After all the research of foreign scholars, many hesitate to de- 




SHINTO PRIEST. 



306 BUDDHISM IN JAPAN. 

cide whether Shinto is a native Japanese product or whether it 
is not closely allied with the ancient religion of China which ex- 
isted before the period of Confucius. The weight of opinion in- 
clines to the latter belief. The Kojiki is the Bible of Shintoism. 
It is full of narrations, but it lays down no precepts, teaches no 
morals or doctrines, prescribes no ritual. Shinto has very few of 
the characteristics of a religion as understood by us. The most 
learned native commentators and exponents of the faith expressly 
maintain the view that Shinto has no moral code. Motoori, the 
great modern revivalist of Shinto, teaches with emphasis that 
morals were invented by the Chinese because they were an im- 
moral people, but in Japan there was no necessity for any system 
of morals, as every Japanese acted aright if he only consulted his 
own heart. The duty of a good Japanese, he says, consists in 
obeying the commands of the mikado without questioning whether 
these commands are right or wrong. It was only immoral people 
like the Chinese who presumed to discuss the character of their 
sovereign. The opinion of most scholars from America and 
Europe, studying Shinto on its own soil, has been that the faith 
was little more tlian an influence for reducing the people to a 
condition of mental slavery. Its influence is weakening every 
year. 

The outlines of Buddhism in its Chinese forms have been indi- 
cated in a foregoing chapter. It is well, however, to take an- 
other glance at it here in connection with its Japanese signifi- 
cance. This religion reached the Japanese empire about the 
middle of the sixth century after Christ, twelve centuries after 
its establishment. Buddhism originated as a pure atheistic 
humanitarianism, with a lofty philosophy and a code of morals 
higher perhaps than any heathen religion had reached before or 
has since attained. First preached in India, a land accursed by 
secular and spiritual oppression, it acknowledged no caste and 
declared all men equally sinful and miserable, and all equally 
capable of being freed from sin and misery through knowledge. 
It taught that the souls of all men had lived in a previous state 
of existence and that all the sorrows of this life are punishments 
for sins committed in a previous state. After death the soul 
must migrate for ages through stages of life inferior or superior, 



ATHEISTIC TENDENCIES. 307 

until perchance it arrived at last in Nirvana or absorption ia 
Buddha. The true estate of the human soul, according to the 
Buddhist, was blissful annihilation. 

The morals of Buddhism are superior to its metaphysics. Its 
commandments are the dictates of the most refined morality. 
Such was Buddhism in its early purity. Beside its moral code 
and philosophical doctrines it had almost nothing. But in the 
twelve centuries which passed while it swept thi'ough India, 
Birmah, Siam, China, Thibet, Manchooria, Corea, and Siberia, 
it acquired the apparel with which Asiatic imagination and 
priestly necessity had clothed and adorned the original doctrines 
of Buddha. The ideas of Buddha had been expanded into a 
complete theological system, with all the appurtenances of a stock 
religion. Japan was ready for the introduction of any religion 
as attractive as Buddhism, for prior to that time nothing existed 
except Shinto, of which there was little but the dogma of the 
divinity of the mikado, the duty of all Japanese to obey him im- 
plicitly, and some Confucian morals. 

Buddhism came to touch the heart, to fire the imagination, to 
feed the intellect, to offer a code of lofty morals, to point out a 
pure life through self-denial, to awe the ignorant, and to terrify 
the doubting. With this explanation of the field which Buddhism 
found and what it offered, it is sufficient to say that the faith 
spread with marvelous rapidity until the Japanese empire was a 
Buddhist land. Tliis did not necessarily exclude Shinto from the 
minds of the same people, and the two faiths have existed side by 
side in harmony. Of late years, however, the Japanese have not 
only been losing faith in their own religions but in all others, and 
to-day they are said by many to form a nation of atheists. This 
does not apply to the common people so truly as to the edu- 
cated ones, and of course is not nearly as general a truth as has 
been often assumed. In no country of Asia has Christianity made 
such rapid and permanent advance as in Japan. It is the only 
oriental country having a government of its own in which there is 
absolute freedom in religious belief and practice, and in which 
there is no state religion and no state support. 

It has been for years the prophetic declaration of missionaries 
in the east that the first nation to extend full liberty of conscience 



308 



CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN. 



in religion would be the dominant power of Asia. That Japan 
has fulfilled thip condition is not more remarkable than are her 
rapid strides to political power since that country opened its doors 
to Christianity. That Japan is sincere in its treatment of an 
alien religion is attested by the fact that native Christian chap- 
lains accompany her armies in their marches against China, and 
these are representative men of the Methodist, Congregational, 




STREET SCENES. — From a Japanese Album. 

and Presbyterian churches in Japan There is no doubt that the 
whole Christian element in Japan, foreign and native, has been 
loyal to the country and in thorough sympathy with the aggressive 
movement made by Japan. The sympathy between Corea and 
Japan has been greatly strengthened by the active support 
rendered Presbyterian missionaries in Corea by the whole Chris- 
tian body in Japan. The work of Mr. Johnson, a Presbyterian 



THE AINOS. 309 

missionary in Corea, made him an adviser of the king, and this 
assisted in leading the latter rather towards Japan than towards 
China. The corner stone of JajDan's position to-day is religious 
toleration. All that the Christian missionaries have asked in Asia 
is equal privilege with other religions, and these they have had in 
Japan. History is only repeating itself, and the results of re- 
ligious toleration in Europe centuries ago are being duplicated in 
Asia in 1895. 

The student of Asiatic life, on coming to Japan, is cheered and 
pleased on contrasting the position of women in Japan with that 
in other countries. He sees them treated with respect and con- 
sideration far above that observed in other quarters of the Orient. 
They are allowed greater freedom, and hence have more dignity 
and self-confidence. The daughters are better educated and the 
national annals will show probably as large a number of illustrious 
women as those of any other country in Asia. In these last days 
of enlightenment public and private schools for girls are being 
opened and attended. Furthermore, some of the leaders of new 
Japan, braving public scandal, and learning to bestow that 
measure of honor upon their wives which they see is enthusiastic- 
ally awarded by foreigners to theirs, and are not ashamed to be 
seen in public with them. No women excel the Japanese in that 
innate love of beauty, order, neatness, household adornment and 
management, and the amenities of dress and etiquette as pre- 
scribed by their own standard. In maternal affection, tenderness, 
anxiety, patience, and long suffering, the Japanese mothers need 
fear no comparison with those in other climes. As educators of 
their children, the Japanese women are peers to the mothers of 
any civilization in the care and minuteness of their training, and 
their affectionate tendernfess and self-sacrificing devotion within 
the limits of their knowledge. The Japanese maiden is bright, 
intelligent, interesting, modest, ladylike, and self-reliant. What 
the Americau girl is in Europe the Japanese maiden is among 
Asiatics. 

So far our attention has been devoted exclusively to the 
Japanese proper, that is, to those people inhabiting Hondo and 
the other islands to the south of it. But a few words remain to 
be said about a people, who, while forming part of the empire of 



310 SURVIVING ABORIGINES. 

Japan, yet differ essentially from the great majority of the popu- 
lation. They are the Ainos, or the original inhabitants of the 
Japanese archipelago, now only to be found in the island of 
Yesso. These people are decreasing in numbers year by year, 
and will soon be named with those extinct races of whom it is 
only known that they have once existed. The Ainos, however, 
have had their day of glory. In olden times, several centuries 
before our era, they were masters of all the north part of the 
island of Hondo, and their power equalled that of the Japanese ; 
but little by little their influence diminished, and they were 
driven before the Japanese, and finally confined to the island of 
Yesso. There the Japanese pursued them and a long war ensued, 
but finally reduced them to complete submission about the four- 
teenth century. Since then the state of servitude in which their 
conquerors have held them has been such as to stifle even the 
instinct of progress within them, so that in the nineteenth century 
they offer the image of a people hardly past its first infancy. 

The origin of the Ainos is unknown. Tliey themselves are per- 
fectly ignorant of their own history, and they have no written 
documents existing which could throw light upon their past. It 
is most probable that they originally came from the far interior 
of the Asiatic continent, for they bear not the slightest resem- 
blance to any of their neighbors in the tribes scattered along the 
eastern coasts of the north of Asia. The Ainos are generally 
small, thick-set, and awkwardly formed ; they have wide fore- 
heads and black eyes, not sloping ; their skin is fair but sunburnt. 
Their distinguishing feature is their hairiness, and they never 
dress their heads or trim their beards. The little children have a 
bright, intelligent look, which, however, gradually wears away as 
they grow older. The dwellings are of the simplest construction, 
and only contain a few implements for hunting and fishing, and 
some cooking utensils. They are built in small groups or hamlets, 
never containing more than a hundred individuals. They are a 
gentle, kindly, hospitable, and even timid people. Fishing is 
their chief occupation, and hunting is another profitable pursuit. 
There is no sign of agriculture, nor is any breed of cattle to be 
found among these people. Dogs are utilized to draw their 
sledges in winter. Their organization is quite patriarchal. They 



p^ ,fi^iV.i'vi;i . .. 




'hh' /;,„; 



OUTLOOK FOR JAPAN. 313 

have neither king, princes nor lords, but in every hamlet the 
affairs of the community are vested in the hands of the oldest and 
most influential member. Although the intelligence of the Ainos 
is very little developed, they evince great aptitude for knowledge 
and eagerly seize every opportunity for acquainting themselves 
with Japanese laws and customs. 

The London Times, in 1859, predicted that " The Chinaman 
would still be navigating the canals of his country in the crazy 




RATS AS RICE MERCHANTS. — FroiH a Japanese Album. 



old junks of his ancestors when the Japanese was skimming along 
his rivers in high pressure steamers, or flying across the country 
behind a locomotive." The railway is now in fact stretching its 
iron tracks in every direction over the islands; the telegraph 
spreads its web all over the country ; street car lines are in every 
city ; the printing press rattles merrily in every moderate sized 
country town ; and the Japanese who have always read much, 
now read ten times more than they ever did before. Technical 



014 OUTLOOK FOR JAPAN. 

education of the higher kind is telling upon the people, and many 
works are now undertaken from which the authorities would have 
shrunk a few years ago as being impossible for them to grapple 
with. Original investigation in many lines has been pursued, and 
particularly in the study of earthquake phenomena has Japan 
given to the world results of extreme value. The influence of the 
modern scientific spirit is immense and ever growing. Western 
influence in its better nature is constantly on the increase. It 
appears to day as if Japan were to be the civilizing influence in 
the east of Asia. 



COREA 




COREAN LANDSCAPE. 



HISTORICAIv SKETCH OF COREA, THE HERMIT 
NATION. 



Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Land— Founding tlie Kingdom of Cho-sen— The Era of tlie 
Three Kingdoms— Dependence on Cliina and Japan— Period of Peace and Prosperity— Inva- 
sion of Corea by the Japanese in the Sixteenth Century— Introduction of Christianity— The 
Modern History of Corea— Breal^ing down the Walls of Isolation— The French Expedition— 
American Relations with Corea— Ports Opened to Japanese Commerce— The Year of the 
Treaties— A Hermit Nation no Longer. 

Until recent years our knowledge of the remarkable country of 
Corea, known indeed to the general public by little more than its 
name, has been limited to the meagre and scanty information im- 
parted to us by Chinese and Japanese sources. After having 
been for several thousands of years the scene of sanguinary and 
murderous feuds between the various races and tribes who 
peopled the peninsula, and of the intrigues and wars of conquest 
of its rapacious neighbors, Corea succeeded after its final union 
under the sway of one ruler, but with considerable loss of terri- 
tory, in driving back the invaders behind its present frontiers, en- 
forcing since that time with an iron rule, that policy of exclusion 
which effectually separated it from the whole outer world. Corea, 
though unknown even by name in Europe until the sixteenth cen- 
tury, was the subject of description by Arab geographers of the 
middle ages. The Arab merchants trading to Chinese ports 
crossed the Yellow Sea, visited the peninsula, and even settled 
there. The youths of Shinra, one the Corean states, sent by theii 
sovereign to study the arts of war and peace at Nanking, the 
mediaeval capital of China, may often have seen and talked with 
the merchants of Bagdad and Damascus. 

As has been said, nearly all that the western world was able to 
learn about Corea until recent years, has been collected from 
Chinese and Japanese sources, which confine themselves mainly 
to the historical and political connection with these countries. 
Tlie meagre early accounts owed to Europeans on this interesting 
subject, originate either from shipwrecked mariners wlio have 

317 



318 WHENCE CAME THE COREANS. 

been cast upon the inhospitable shores of Corea and there been 
kept imprisoned for some time, or from navigators who have ex- 
tended their voyages of discovery to these distant seas and who 
have touched a few prominent points of the coast. 

Like almost every country on earth, Corea is inhabited by a 
race that is not aboriginal. The present occupiers of the land 
drove out or conquered the people whom they found upon it. 
They are the descendants of a stock who came from beyond the 
northern frontier. It may not be a wrong conjecture, which is 
corroborated by many outward signs, to look for the origin of the 
people in Mongolia, in a tribe which finally settled down in 
Corea after roaming about and fighting its way through China. 
We may also take those who bear the unmistakable stamp of the 
Caucasian race to have come from Western Asia whence they 
had been driven by feuds and revolutions. At the conclusion of 
the long wars which have at last led to the union of the different 
states founded by various tribes, a partial fusion had taken place, 
which, though it has not succeeded in eradicating the outer signs 
of a different descent, at least caused the adoption of one language 
and of the same manners and customs. 

Most of the Coreans claim to be in complete darkness and 
ignorance of their own origin ; some declare quite seriously that 
their ancestors have sprung from a black cow on the shores of the 
Japan sea, while others ascribe their origin to a mysterious and 
supernatural cause. 

The first mention of the inhabitants of Corea we find in old 
Chinese chronicles about 2350 B. C, at which period some of the 
northern tribes are reported to have entered into a tributary con- 
nection with China. The first really reliable accounts, however, 
commence only with the twelfth century B. C, at which time 
the north-westerly part of the peninsula first stands out from the 
dark. 

The last Chinese emperor of the Shang dynasty was Chow Sin, 
who died B. C. 1122. He was an unscrupulous tyrant, and one 
of his nobles, Ki Tsze, rebuked and remonstrated with his sover- 
eign. His efforts were hopeless, and the nobles who joined him 
in protest were executed. Ki Tsze was cast into prison. A re- 
volt immediately ensued against the tyrant; he -was defeated and 



Bounding the first kingdom. 519 

killed, and the conqueror Wu Wang released the prisoner and 
appointed him prime minister. Ki Tsze however refused to serve 
one whom he believed to be an usurper and exiled himself to 
the regions lying to the north-east. With him went several 
thousand Chinese immigrants, most the remnant of the defeated 
arm}', who made him their king. Ki Tsze reigned many years 
and left the newly founded state in peace and prosperity to his 
successors. He policed the borders, gave laws to his subjects, 
and gradually introduced the principles and practices of Cliinese 
etiquette aiid polity throughout his domain. Previous to his time 
the people lived in caves and holes in the ground, dressed in 
leaves, and were destitute of manners, morals, agriculture and 
cooking. The Japanese pronounce the founder's name Kishi, and 
the Coreaus Kei-tsa or Kysse. The name conferred by the civ- 
ilizer upon his new domain was that now in use by the modern 
Coreans, " Cho-sen," or "Morning Calm." 

The descendants of Ki Tsze are said to have ruled the country 
until the fourth century before the Christian era. Their names 
and deeds are alike unknown, but it is stated that there were 
forty-one generations, making a blood line of eleven hundred 
and tliirty-one years. The line came to an end in 9 A. D., though 
they had lost power long before that time. 

This early portion of Cho-sen did not contain all of the territory 
of the modern Corea, but only the north-western portion of it. 
While the petty kingdoms of China were warring among one 
another, the nearest to Cho-sen encroached upon it and finally 
seized the colony. This was not to be permanent however, and 
there ensued a series of wars, each force becoming alternately suc- 
cessful. The territory of Cho-sen grew in area and the kingdom 
increased in wealth, power and intelligence under the rule of King 
Wie-man, who assumed the authority 194 B. C. Thousands of 
Chinese gentry fleeing before the conquering arms of the Han 
usurpers settled within the limits of the new kingdom, adding 
greatly to its prosperity. In 107 B. C, after a war that had 
lasted one year, a Chinese invading army finally conquered the 
kingdom of Cho-sen and annexed it to the Chinese empire. The 
conquered territory included the north half of the present kingdom 
of Corea. 



320 THE ERA OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. 

Things remained in this condition until about 30 B. C.,at which 
time a part of Cho-sen taking advantage of the disorders which 
had broken out afresh in China, separated itself from the empire 
and again formed a state by itself, but still remained tributary ; 
while the other portions of the old kingdom for some time longer 
remained under Chinese rule, until they also joined the portion 
that had been freed. Up to this period Cho-sen forming the 
north-west of the present Corea, had been the only part of that 
country that had become more closely connected with China. 
The tracts to the north-east, south-west and south were occupied 
by different independent tribes, and little more is known of them 
than that they were ruled by chiefs of their own clan. In course 
of time three kingdoms, Korai, Hiaksai, and Shinra, were formed 
out of tliese various elements, subsisting by the side of Cho-sen, 
at a later date fighting either beside or against China, and almost 
incessantly at feud with each otlier, until Shinra gained the pre- 
dominance about the middle of the eighth century A. D. and kept 
the same up to the sixteenth century. It was then supplanted in 
the leading position by Korai, which united under its supremacy 
all those parts of Corea which had hitherto been separate, and 
constituted the whole into a single state. Like the three 
kingdoms of England, Scotland and Wales, these Corean states 
were distinct in origin, were conquered by a race from without, 
received a rich infusion of alien blood, struggled in rivalry for 
centuries, and were finally united under one nation with one flag 
and one sovereign. 

Hiaksai was for a while the leading state in the peninsula. 
Buddhism was introduced from Thibet in 384 A. D. And to this 
state more than any other part of Corea, Japan owes her first 
impulses towards the civilization of the west. The kingdom pros- 
pered until the decade from 660 to 670, when it was overrun and 
practically annihilated by an army of Chinese, despite the aid of 
four hundred junks and a large body of soldiers sent from Japan 
to the aidof Corea. 

Korai of course took its turn in struggling with the Dragon of 
China. Early in the seventh century China had been defeated, 
and for a generation peace prevailed. But the Chinese coveted 
Koraian territory and again an invading fleet attacked the country. 



COREA'S GIFT TO JAPAN. 321 

It took years to complete the conquest, but finally all Korai with 
its five provinces, its one and seventy-six cities and its four or 
five millions of people, was annexed to the Chinese empire, 
i- Shinra, in the south-west of the peninsula, was probably the 
most advanced of all of the states. It was from this kingdom 
that the tradition reached Japan which tempted the Amazonian 
queen of Japan, Jingo, to her invasion and conquest. The king 
of Shinra submitted and became a declared vassal of Japan, but in 
all probability Shinra was far superior to the Japan of that early 
day in everything except strength. From this kingdom came a 
stream of immigrants which passed into Japan carrying all sorts of / 
knowledge and an improved civilization. It is well to remember 
from this point that the Japanese always laid claim to the Corean 
peninsula and to Shinra especially as a tributary nation. They 
supported that claim not only whenever embassies from the two 
nations met at the court of Cliina, but they made it a more or less 
active part of their national policy. 

During this period Buddhism was being steadily propagated, 
learning and literary progi'ess increased, while art, science, archi- 
tecture were all favored and improved. Kion-chiu, the capital of 
Shinra, was looked upon as a holy city, even after the decay of 
Shinra's power. Her noble temples, halls and towers stood in 
honor and repair, enshrining the treasures of India, Persia, and 
China, until the ruthless Japanese torch laid them in ashes in 
1596. 

From the year 755 A. D. up to the beginning of the tenth cen- 
tury, Shinra maintained its undisputed rule over the other 
countries of the peninsula, but about this time successive revolts 
occurred, Shinra was conquered, and the three kingdoms now 
united were called Korai, a name which was retained to the end 
of the fourteenth century. The kingdoms now thoroughly sub- 
dued, never recovered tlieir old position and independence, and 
composed from that time forward the undivided kingdom of 
Corea, such as it has been maintained until the present day. In 
1218 A. D. the king of Corea promised allegiance to the Chinese 
emperor Taitsou who was the Mongol Genghis Khan. 

Here we find explanation for some features of the war now in 
progress between China and Japan. Corea has at various times 



322 COREA'S VASSALAGE TO JAPAN AND CHINA. 

acknowledged its dependence upon both of these countries. The 
Japanese hiid claim to Corea from the second century until tlie 
27th of February, 1876. On that day the mikado's minister 
plenipotentiary signed the treaty recognizing Cho-sen as an 
independent nation. Through all the seventeen centuries, which 
according to their annals elapsed since their armies first com- 
pleted the vassalage of their neighbor,-the Japanese regarded the 
states of Corea as tributaries. Time and again they enforced 
their claim with bloody invasion, and when through a more 
enlightened policy the rulers voluntarily acknowledged their 
former enemy as an equal, the decision cost Japan almost im- 
mediately afterward seven months of civil war, twenty thousand 
lives, and 150,000,000 in treasury. The mainspring of the 
" Satsuma rebellion " of 1877 was the official act of friendship by 
treaty, and the refusal of the Tokio government to make war on 
Corea. It seemed until 1877 almost impossible to eradicate from 
the military mind of Japan the conviction that to surrender 
Corea was cowardice and a stain upon the national honor. 

From the ninth century onwaid to the sixteenth century, 
the relations of the two countries seem to be unimportant. 
Japan was engaged in conquering northward her own barbarians. 
Her intercourse, both political and religious, grew to be so 
direct with the court of China, that Corea in the Japanese annals 
sinks out of sight except at rare intervals. Nilion increased in 
wealth and civilization, while Cho-sen remained stationary or 
retrograded. In the nineteentli century the awakened "Sunrise 
Kingdom " has seen her former self in tlie " Land of Morning 
Calm," and has stretched forth willing hands to do for her 
neighbor now what Corea did for Japan in centuries long gone 
by. It must never be forgotten that Corea was the bridge on 
which civilization crossed from China to the archipelago. 

About 1368 the reigning King of Corea refused vassalage to 
China. His troops refused to repel the invasion that threat- 
ened, and under their General Ni Taijo, deposed the king. 
Taijo himself was nominated king. He paid homage to the 
Chinese emperor and revived the ancient name of Cho-sen. The 
dynasty thus established is still the reigning family in Corea, 
though the direct line came to an end in 1861. The Coreans in 



Establishment of the present corean dynasty. 323 

their treaty with Japan in 1876, dated the document according 
to the four hundred and eighty-fourth year of Cho-sen, reckoning 
from tlie accession of Ni Taijo to the throne. One of the first 
acts of the new dynasty was to change the location of the 
national capital to the city of Han Yang, situated on the Han 
river about fifty miles from its mouth. The king enlarged the 
fortifications, enclosed the city with a wall of masonry, and built 
bridges, renaming the city Seoul or "capital." He also redivided 




PAGODA AT SEOUL. 

the kingdom into eight provinces which still remain. An era of 
peace and flourishing prosperity ensued, and in everything the 
influence of the Chinese emperors is most manifest. Buddhism, 
which had penetrated into every part of the country, and had 
become in a measure at least the religion of the state, was now 
set aside and disestablished. The Confucian ethics were dilli- 
gently studied and were incorporated into the religion of the 
state. From the early part of the fifteenth century, Confucian- 
ism flourished, until it reached the point of bigotry and intoler- 
ance, so that when Christianity was discovered to be existing 
among the people, it was put under the ban of extirpation, and 
its followers thought worthy of death. 

At first the new dynasty sent tribute regularly to the shogun 
of Japan, but as intestinal war troubled the Island Empire and 



324 JAPAN'S GREAT INVASION OF COREA. 

the shoguns became effeminate, the Coreans stopped their 

tribute and it was almost forgotten. The last embassy from 

Seoul was sent in 1460. After that they were never summoned, 

so they never came. Under the idea that peace was to last 

forever, the nation relaxed all vigilance ; the army was dis- 

~7 I organized and the castles were fallen into ruin. It was while the 

I country was in such a condition that the summons of Japan's 

! great conqueror came to them, and the Coreans learned for the 

> first time of the fall of Ashikaga and the temper of their new 

master. 

As the Mongol conquerors issuing from China had used Corea 
as their point of departure to invade 
Japan, so Hideyoshi resolved to make 
the peninsula the road for his armies 
into China. He sent an envoy to 
Seoul to demand tribute, and then, 
angered at the utter failure of his mis- 
sion, commanded the envoy and all his 
family to be put to death. A second 
ambassador was sent with more success, 
and presents and envoys were ex- 
changed. Hideyoshi, however, became 
enraged at the indifference of the 
Coreans to assist him in his dealings 

COREAN SOLDIERS. -^1, rii,- j 1 j a T, t,i ^u 

With China, and resolved to humble the 
peninsular kingdom, and China, her overlord. 

The invasion of Corea was made as related in the earlier 
chapters on Japan. The Coreans were poorly prepared for war, 
both as to leaders, soldiers, equipments and fortifications. The 
Japanese swept everything like a whirlwind before them, and 
entered the capital within eighteen days after their landing at 
Fusan. The accounts of the war are preserved in detail, and are 
exceedingly interesting, but the limits of this volume compel 
their omission to provide space for the war of 1894-5. At first 
Chinese armies coming to reinforce the Coreans were defeated 
and turned back, but another effort of the allies was more effec- 
tive and the Japanese troops found advance turned to retreat. 
The Japanese armies concentrated at Seoul to receive the ad- 




CHRISTIAN CHAPLAINS WITH THE ARMY. 



32C 



vance of the allies numbering some two hundred thousand. The 
capital was burned by the Japanese, nearly every house being 
destroyed, and hundreds of men, women, and children, sick and 
well, living quietly there, were massacred. The allied troops 
were beaten back in a ferocious battle, but hunger reached both 
armies, pestilence entered the Japanese camp, and both 
were utterly tired of war and ready to consider terms of peace. 

Konishi, the general of the 
Japanese army, had been con- 
verted to Christianity by the 
Portuguese Jesuits. During 
this period of tiresome wait- 
ing he sent to the superior 
of the missions in Japan ask- 
ing for a priest. In response 
to this request came Father 
Gregorio de Cespedes and a 
Japanese convert. Tliese 
two holy men began their 
labors among the Japanese 
armies, preaching from camp 
to camp, and administering 
the right of baptism to thou- 
sands of converts, but their 
work was stopped by the 
jealousy of the Buddhist 
power. The Jesuits in Japan 
were then being expelled for 
their political machinations, 
and the chaplains in Corea 
were brought under the same 
ban. Konishi was called 
back to Japan with the priest and was unable to convince the 
shogun of his innocence. A few Corean converts were made 
during this time, and one of them a lad of rank, was afterward 
educated in the Jesuit seminary at Kioto. He endeavored to 
return to Corea as a missionary, but the condition of affairs in 
Japan interrupted his intentions and in 1625 he was martyred 




OLD MAN IN COEEA. 



326 CHRISTIAN CHAPLAINS WITH THE ARMY. 

during the prosecutions of the Christians. Of the large number 
of Corean prisoners sent over to Japan, many became Christians. 
Hundreds of others were sold as slaves to the Portuguese. 
Others rose to positions of honor under the government or in the 
households of the daimios. Many Corean lads were adopted by 
the returned soldiers or kept as servants. When the bloody per- 
secution broke out, by which niiiny thousand Japanese found 
death, the Corean converts remained steadfast to their Christian 
faith, and suffered martyrdom with fortitude equal to that of 
their Japanese brethren. But by the army in Corea, or by the 
Christian chaplain Cespedes, no trace of Christianity was left in 
the land of Morning Calm, and it was two centuries later before 
that faith was really introduced. 

The fortunes of the war alternated, and finally, after deeds of 
heroism on both sides, a period of inaction ensued, the result of 
exhaustion. At this time Hideyoshi fell sick and died, September 
9, 1598, at the age of sixty-three years. Almost his last words 
were, " Recall all my troops from Cho-sen." The orders to em- 
bark for home were everywhere gladly heard. It is probable 
that the loss of life in the campaigns of this war was nearly a 
third of a million. Thus ended one of the most needless, unpro- 
voked, cruel, and desolating wars that ever cursed Corea. More 
than two hundred thousand human bodies were decapitated to 
furnish the ghastly material for the " ear-tomb " mound in Kioto. 
More than one hundred and eighty-five thousand Corean heads 
were gathered for mutilation, and thirty thousand Chinese, all of 
which were despoiled of ears and noses. It is probable that fifty 
thousand Japanese left their bones in Corea. 

Since the invasion the town of Fusan, as before, had been held 
and garrisoned by the retainers of the Daimio of Tsushima. At 
this port all the commerce between the two nations took place. 
From an American point of view, there was little trade done be- 
tween the two countries, but on the strength of even this small 
amount Earl Russell in 1862 tried to get Great Britain included 
as a co-trader between Japan and Corea. He was not, however, 
successful. A house was built at Nagasaki by the Japanese gov- 
ernment which was intended as a refuge for Coreans who might 
be wrecked on Japanese shores. Wherever the waifs were picked 



ADVANCE OF THE MANCHOOS. 327 

up, they were sent to Nagasaki and sheltered until a junk could 
be dispatched to Fusan. 

The possession of Fusan by the Japanese was, until 1876, a 
perpetual witness of the humiliating defeat, of the Coreans in the 
war of 1592-1597, and a constant irritation to their national 
pride. Yet with all the miseries inflicted on her, the humble 
nation learned rich lessons, and gained many an advantage even 
from her enemy. The embassies which were yearly dispatclied 
to yield homage to their late invaders were at the expense of the 
latter. The Japanese pride purchased the empty bubble of hom- 
age by paying nil the bills. J 

The home of the Manchoos was on the north side of the Ever- 
white mountains. From beyond these mountains was to roll 
upon China and Corea another avalanche of invasion. By the 
sixteenth century the Manchoos had become so strong that they 
openly defied the Chinese. Formidable expeditions previous to 
the Japanese invasion of Corea kept them at bay for a time, but 
the immense expenditure of life and treasure required to fight 
the Japanese drained the resources of the Ming emperors, while 
their attention being drawn away from the north, the Manchoo 
hordes massed their forces and grew daily in strength. To re- 
press the rising power in the north, and to smother the life of the 
young nation, the Peking government resorted to barbarous 
cruelties and stern coercion. Unable to protect the eastern bor- 
der of Liao Tung the entire population of three hundred thou, 
sand souls, dwelling in four cities and many villages, were re- 
moved westward and resettled on new lands. Fortresses were 
planned in the deserted land to keep back the restless cavalry 
raiders from the north. Thus the foundation of the neutral strip 
of fifty miles was unconsciously laid, and ten thousand square 
miles of fair and fertile land west of the Yalu were abandoned to 
the wolf and tiger. What it soon became it remained until yes- 
terday — a howling wilderness. 

In 1615 the king of the Manchoo tribes was assassinated as the 
result of a plot by the Ming emperor. This exasperated the 
tribes to vengeance and they began hostilities. China now had 
to face another great invasion. Calling on her vassal, Corea, to 
a^nd an army of twenty thousand men, she ordered them to join 



328 COREAN TREACHERY. 

the imperial array about seventy miles west of the Yalu River. 
In the battle which ensued the Coreans were the first to face the 
Manchoos. The imperial legions were beaten, and the Coreans 
seeing which way the victory would turn, deserted from the 
Chinese side to that of their enemy. This was in 1619. Enraged 
by alternate treachery to both sides from the Coreans, the Man- 
choos invaded Corea in 1627, to which time the war had been 
prolonged. They crossed the frozen Yalu in February, and at 
once attacked and defeated the Chinese army. They then began 
the march to Seoul. Town afte-r town was taken as they pressed 
onward to the capital, the Coreans everywhere flying before 
them. Thousands of dwellings and stores of provisions were 
given to the flames and their trail was one of blood and ashes. 
After the siege of Seoul began, the king sent tribute offerings to 
the invaders, and concluded a treaty of peace, by which Corea 
again exchanged masters, this time confessing subjection to the 
Manchoo sovereign. As soon as the invading army had with- 
drawn, the Corean king, confident that the Chinese would be 
ultimately successful over the Manchoos, annulled the treaty. 
No sooner were the Manchoos able to spare their forces for the 
purpose than they again marched into Corea and overran the 
peninsula. 

The king now came to terms, and in February, 1637, utterly 
renounced his allegiance to the Ming emperor, gave his two sons 
as hostages, and promised to send an annual embassy with tribute 
to the Manchoo court. After the evacuation of Corea the victors 
marched into China, where bloody civil war was raging. The 
imperial army of China had been beaten by the rebels. The 
Manchoos joined their forces with the imperialists and defeated 
the rebels, and then demanded the price of their victory. Enter- 
ing Peking they proclaimed the downfall of the house of Ming. 
The son of the late king was set upon the dragon throne, and as 
we have seen in a foregoing chapter the royal house of China 
came to be a Manchoo family. - ' 

VWhen, as it happened the very next year, the shogun of Japan 
demanded an increase of tribute to be paid in Yeddo, the court of 
Seoul plead in excuse their wasted resources, consequent upon 
the war with the Manchoos, and their heavy burdens newly laid 



TRIBUTE TO TWO NEIGHBORS. 329 

upon them in the way of tribute to their conqueror. Their excuse 
was accepted. Twice within a single generation had the little 
peninsula been devasted by mighty invasion that laid waste the 
country.^ 

In r^O a captive Corean maid, taken prisoner in their first 
invasion, became sixth lady in rank in the imperial Manchoo 
household. Through her influence her father, the ambassador, 
obtained a considerable reduction of the annual tribute that had 
been fixed by treaty. Other portions of the tribute had been re- 
mitted before, so that by this time the tax upon Corean loyalty 
became very slight, and the embassy became one of ceremony 
rather than a tribute bringing. 

In the seventeenth century some information about Corea 
began to reach Europe, first from the Jesuits in Peking, who sent 
home a map of the peninsula. There is also a map of Corea in a 
work by the Jesuit Martini, published in 1649 in Amsterdam. 
The Cossacks who overran northern Asia brought reports of 
Corea to Russia, and it was from Russian sources that Sir John 
Campbell obtained the substance of his history of Corea. In 1645 
a party of Japanese crossed the peninsula, and one of them on his 
return wrote a book descriptive of their journey. 1707 the 
Jesuits in Peking began their great geographical enterprise, the 
survey of the Chinese empire, including the outlying vassal 
kingdoms. A map of Corea was obtained from the king's palace 
at Seoul and sent to Europe to be engraved and printed. From 
this original most of the maps and supposed Corean names in 
books published since that time have been copied. 

The first known entrance of any number of Europeans into 
Corea was that of Hollanders belonging to the crew of the Dutch 
ship Hollandra which was driven ashore in 1627. Coasting along 
the Corean shores, John Wetterree and some companions went 
ashore to get water, a'ld were captured by the natives. The 
magnates of Seoul probably desired to have a barbarian from the 
west, as useful to them as was the Englishman Will Adams to the 
Japanese in Yeddo, where the Corean ambassadors had often seen 
him. This explains why Wetterree was treated with kindness 
and comparative honor, though kept as a prisoner. When the 
Manchoos invaded Corea in 1635, his two companions were killed 
21 



330 FIRST EUROPEANS IN COREA. 

in the war, and Wetterree was left alone. Having no one with 
whom he could converse he had almost forgotten his native 
speech, when after twenty-seven years of exile, in the fifty-ninth 
year of his age, he met some of his fellow Hollanders, and acted 
as interpreter to the Coreans. 

In the summer of 1653 the Dutch ship Sparwehr was cast on 
shore on Quelpaert island, off the southwest coast of Corea. The 
local magistrate did what he could for the thirty-six members 
of the crew who reached the shore alive, out of the sixty -four on 
board. On October 29th the survivors were brought by the 
officials to be examined by the interpreter Wetterree. The latter 
was very rusty in his native language, but regained it in a month. 
Of course the first and last idea of the captives was how to escape. 
They made one effort to reach the sea shore, but were caught and 
severely punished, after which they were ordered to proceed to 
the capital. Wherever they went the Dutchmen were like wild 
beasts on exhibition. When they once reached the palace they 
were well treated, and were assigned to the body guard of the 
king as petty officers. Each time that the Manchoo envoy made 
his visit to the capital the captives endeavored to enlist his sym- 
pathy and begged to be taken to Peking, but all such efi^orts re- 
sulted in failure and punishment. The suspicions of the govern- 
ment were aroused by the studies which the Dutchmen pursued, 
of the climate, the topography, and the products of the country, 
and by their attemps to escape, and in 1663 they were separated 
and put into three different towns. By this time fourteen of the 
number were dead and twenty-two remained. 

Finally, early in September 1667, as their fourteenth year of 
captivity was drawing to a close, the Dutchmen escaped to the 
seacoast, bribed a Corean to give them his fishing craft, and 
steered out into the open water. A few days later, they reached 
the northwestern islands in the vicinity of Kiushiu, Japan, and 
landed. The Japanese treated them kindly and sent them to 
Nagasaki, where they met their countrymen at Desima. The 
annual ship from Batavia was then just about to return, and in 
the nick of time the waifs got on board, reached Batavia, sailed 
for Holland, and in July, 1668, stepped ashore at home. Hendrik 
Hamel, the supercargo of the ship, wrote a book on bis return re- 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA. 33I 

counting his adventures in a simple and straightforward style. It 
has been translated into English and is a model work of its sort. 

The modern introduction of Christianity in Corea dates little 
more than a hundred years ago. Some Corean students studying 
with the famous Confucian professor Kwem, during the winter of 
1777, entered into discussion of some tracts on philosophy, mathe- 
matics, and religion just brought from Peking. These were 
translations of the writings of the Jesuits in the imperial capital. 
Surprised and delighted, they resolved to attain if possible to a 
full understanding of the new doctrines. They sought all the in- 
formation that they could from Peking. The leader in this 
movement was a student named Stonewall. As his information 
accumulated, he gave himself up to fresh reading and meditation, 
and then began to preach. Some of his friends in the capital, 
both nobles and commoners, embraced the new doctrines with 
cheering promptness and were baptized. Thus from small be- 
ginnings, but rapidly, were the Christian ideas spread. 

But soon the power of the law and the pen were invoked to 
crush out the exotic faith. The first victim was tried on the 
charge of destroying his ancestral tablets, tortured, and sent into 
exile, in which he soon after died. The scholars now took up 
weapons, and in April, 1784, the king's preceptor issued the first 
public document officially directed against Christianity. In it all 
parents and relatives were entreated to break off all relations with 
Christians. The names of the leaders were published, and the 
example of Thomas Kim, the first victim, was cited. Forthwith 
began a violent pressure upon the believers to renounce their faith. 
Then began an exhibition alike of steadfast faith and shameful 
apostasy, but though even Stonewall lapsed, the work went on. 
The next few years of Christianity were important ones. The 
leaders formed an organization and as nearly as they could on the 
lines of the Roman Catholic church. Instructions were sent from 
Peking by the priests there, and the worship in Corea became quite 
in harmony with that of the Western church. But the decision 
that the worship of ancestors must be abolished, was, in the eyes 
of the Corean public, a blow at the framework of society and 
state, and many feeble adherents began to fall away. December 
8, 1791, Paul and Jacques Kim were decapitated for refusing to 



33^ YEARS OF MARTYRDOM. 

recant their Christian faith. Thus was shed the first blood for 
Corean Christianity. Martyrdom was frequent in this early his- 
tory of the Christian church in Corea, but in the ten years following 
the baptism of Peter in Peking in 1783, in spite of persecution 
and apostasy, it is estimated that there were four thousand Chris- 
tians in the peninsula. 

The first attempt of a foreign missionary to enter the Hermit 
Kingdom from the west was made early in 1791. This was a 
Portuguese priest who endeavored to cross the Yalu River to join 
some native Christians, but was disappointed in meeting them and 
returned to Peking^ Two years later a young Chinese priest en- 
tered the forbidden territory, and was hidden for three j^ears in 
the house of a__mihle_ woman, where he preached and taught. 
Three native Christians who refused to reveal his whereabouts 
were tortured to death and were thrown into the Han River. 
From the beginning of this century the most bitter general per- 
secutions against Christians was enforced. The young Chinese 
priest, learning that he was outlawed, surrendered himself to re- 
lieve his friends of the responsibility of protecting him, and was 
executed. The woman also who had so long sheltered him was 
beheaded. Four oTheFwomen who were attendants in the palace, 
and an artist who was condemned for painting Christian subjects 
were beheaded near the "Little Western Gate" of Seoul. The 
policy of the government was shown in making away with the 
Christians of rank and education who might be able to direct af- 
fairs in the absence of the foreign priests, and in letting the poor 
and humble go free. 

It is impossible to catalogue the martyrs and the edicts against 
Christianity. The condition of the Christians scattered in the 
mountains and forests, suffering poverty, hunger, and cold, was 
most deplorable. In 1811 the Corean converts addressed letters 
to the Pope begging aid in their distress. These however could 
not be answered in the way they desired, for the Pope himself 
was then a prisoner at Fontainebleau and the Roman propaganda 
was nearly at a standstill. 

In 1817 the king and court were terrified by the appearance off 
the west coast of the British vessels Alceste and Lyra, but be- 
yond some surveys, purchases of provisions, and interviews with 




COREAN MANDARINS. 



MARTYRDOM OF FRENCH PRIESTS. 335 

some local magistrates, the foreigners departed -without opening 
communication with them. Ffteen years later the British ship 
Lord Amherst passed along the coasts of Chulla, seeking commer- 
cial connections. On board was a Protestant missionary, a Prus- 
sian. He landed on several of the islands and attempted to gain 
some acquaintance with the people, but made little progress. The 
year 1834 closed the first half century of Corean Christianity. 
It is not strange that persecutions resulted from the advance of 
Roman Catholic strength in Corea, for the Corean Christians as- 
sumed naturally the righteousness of the Pope's claim to tem- 
poral power as the vicar of heaven. The Corean Christians not 
only deceived their magistrates and violated their country's laws, 
but actually invited armed invasion. Hence, from the first, 
Christianity was associated in patriotic minds with treason and 
robbery. 

After the restoration of the Bourbons in France and the 
strengthening of the Papal throne by foreign bayonets, the mis- 
sionary zeal in the church was kindled afresh, and it was resolved 
to found a mission in Corea. The first priest to make entrance 
was Pierre Philibert Maubant, who reached Seoul in 1836, the 
first Frenchman who had penetrated the Hermit Nation. A few 
months later another joined him, and in December, 1888, Bishop 
Imbert ran the gauntlet of wilderness, ice, and guards at the 
frontier, and took up his residence under the shadow of the king's 
palace. Work now went on vigorously, and in 1838 the Chris- 
tians numbered nine thousand. At the beginning of the next 
year the party in favor of extirpating Christianity having gained 
the upper hand, another persecution broke out with redoubled 
violence. To stay the further shedding of blood, Bishop Imbert 
and his two priests came out of their hiding places and delivered 
themselves up. They were horribly tortured, and decapitated 
September 21, 1839. Six bitter years passed before the Christians 
again had a foreign pastor. 

Since 1839 the government had tripled its vigilance and 
doubled the guards on the frontier. The most strenuous efforts 
to pass the barriers repeatedly failed. Andrew Kim is a name to 
be remembered in the history of Christianity in Corea. Year 
after year he worked to enter Corea, or once in, to advance the 



336 MARTYRDOM OP FRENCH PRIESTS. 

cause, or wlien rejected to help others in the work. He was or- 
dained to the priesthood in Shanghai, and finally in company with 
two French priests, in September, 1845, sailed across the Yellow 
Sea, and landed on the coast of Chulla, to make his final efi'ort to 
spread Christianity among the Coreans. During July of the same 
year, the British ship Samarang was engaged in surveying off 
•Quelpaert and the south coast of Corea. Beacon fires all over 
the land telegraphed the news of the presence of foreign ships, 
and the close watch that was kept by the coast magistrates made 
the return of Andrew Kim doubly dangerous. 

These records of perseverence, of distress, of martyrdom, from the 
pages of missionary work in Corea, written in the blood of native 
converts, who bore their cross with equal bravery to that of the Roman 
fathers, may be surprising to some who have been unfamiliar with the 
history of the Corean peninsula. , But they are convincing testimony 
to controvert the assertions of some incredulous ones who affirm that 
the "heathen" are never really Christianized, bat are always ready to 
return to their idols in times of trial. There is no country that can 
show braver examples of fortitude, in enduring trial for the support of 
the faith, than the " Hermit Nation." 

Three priests in disguise were now secretly at work in Corea, 
Andrew Kim, a native convert, and the Frenchmen, Bishop 
Ferreol, and his companion Daveluy. Kim was captured and in 
company with half a dozen others was executed September 16th. 
While he was in prison the Bishop heard of three French ships 
which were at that time vainly trying to find the mouth of the 
Han River and the channel to the capital. Ferreol wrote to 
Captain Cecile, who commanded the fleet, but the note arrived too 
late and Kim's fate was sealed. The object of the fleet's visit was 
to demand satisfaction for the murder of the two French priests in 
1839, but after some coast surveys were made and a threatening 
letter was dispatched the ships withdrew. 

During the summer of 1845, two French frigates set sail for the 
Corean coast, and August 10th went aground, and both vessels 
became total wrecks. The six hundred men made their camp at 
Kokun island, where they were kindly treated and furnished with 
provisions, although rigidly secluded and guarded against all 
communication with the main land. An English ship from 
Shanghai rescued the crews. During the ensuing eight years re- 



ALARM IN COREA. 337 

peated efforts were made by missionaries and native converts to 
enter Corea and advance the vpork there, and the labor of prop- 
agation progressed. A number of religious works in the Corean 
language were printed from a native printing press and widely 
circulated. In 1850 the Christians numbered eleven thousand, 
and five young men were studying for the priesthood. Regular 
mails sewn into the thick cotton coats of the men in the annual 
embassy were sent to and brought from China. The western 
nations were beginning to take an interest in the twin hermits of 
the east, Corea and Japan. In 1852, the Russian frigate Pallas 
traced and mapped a portion of the shore line of the east coast, 
and the work was continued three years later by the French war 
vessel Virginie. At the end of this voyage the whole coast from 
Fusan to the Tumen was known with some accuracy and mapped 
out with European names. 

It was in the intervening years, 1853 and 1854, that Commodore 
Perry and the American squadron were in the waters of the far 
east, driving the wedge of civilization into Japan. The American 
flag, however, was not yet seen in Corean waters, though the court 
of Seoul was kept informed of Perry's movements. 

A fresh reinforcement of missionaries reached Corea in 1857. 
When three years later the French and English forces opened war 
with China, took the Peiho forts, entered Peking, and sacked the 
summer palace of the Son of Heaven, driving the Chinese emperor 
to flight, the loss of Chinese prestige struck terror into all 
Corean hearts. For six centuries China had been in Corean eyes 
the synonym and symbol of invincible power. Copies of the 
treaties made between China and the allies, granting freedom of 
trade and religion, were soon read in Corea, causing intense 
alarm. But the most alarming thing was the treaty between 
China and Russia, by which the Manchoo rulers surrendered the 
great tract watered by the Amoor river and bordered bj'- the 
Pacific, to Russia. It was a rich and fertile region, with a coast 
full of harbors, and comprising an area as large as France. The 
boundaries of Siberia now touch Corea. With France on the 
right, Russia on the left, China humbled, and Japan opened to 
the western world, it is not strange that the rulers in Seoul 
trembled. The results to Christianity were that within a few 



338 INTRIGUES IN THE COURT. 

years thousands of natives fled their country and settled in the 
Russian villages. At the capital, official business w^as suspended 
and many families of rank fled to the mountains. In many in- 
stances people of rank humbly sought the good favor and pro- 
tection of the Christians, hoping for safety when the dreaded 
invasion should come. In the midst of these vi^ar preparations, the 
French missionary body was reinforced by the arrival of four o 
their countrymen who set foot on the soil of their martyrdom 
October, 1861. 

The Ni dynasty, founded in 1392, came to an end January 15, 
1864, by the death of King Chul-chong, who had no child, before 
he had nominated an heir. Palace intrigues and excitement 
among the political parties followed. The widows of the three 
kings who had reigned since 1831 were still living. The eldest 
of these. Queen Cho, at once seized the royal seal and emblems of 
authority, which high-handed move made her the mistress of the 
situation. A twelve-year-old lad was nominated for the throne, 
and his father, Ni Kung, one of the royal princes, became the 
actual regent. He held the reins of government during the next 
nine years, ruling with power like that of an absolute despot. 
He was a rabid hater of Christianity, foreigners, and progress. 

The year 1866 is phenomenal in Corean history. It seemed 
to the rulers as if the governments of many nations had con- 
spired to pierce their walls of isolation. Russians, French- 
men, Englishmen, Americans, Germans, authorized and un- 
authorized, landed to trade, rob, kill, or what was equally ob- 
noxious to the regent and his court, to make treaties. This and 
the rapid progress of Christianity now excited the anti-Christian 
party, which was in full power at the court, to clamor for the en- 
forcem_ent of the old edict against the foreign religion. 

Vainly the regent warned the court of the danger from Europe. 
Forced by the party in power, he signed the death warrants of 
bishops and priests and promulgated anew the old laws against 
the Christians. Within a few weeks fourteen French priests and 
bishops were tortured to death, and twice as many native mis- 
sionaries and students for the priesthood suffered like fate. 
Scores of native Christians were put to death, and hundreds more 
were in prison. In a little over a month, all missionary operations 



FRENCH EXPEDITION TO SEOUL. 339 

came to a standstill. The three French priests who remained 
alive escaped from the peninsula in a Chinese junk, and finally 
reached Chefoo October 26. Not one foreign priest now remained 
in Corea, and no Christian dared openly confess his faith. Thus 
after twenty years of nearly uninterrupted labors, the church was 
again stripped of her pastors, and at the end of eighty-two years 
of Corean Christianity the curtain fell in blood. 

With Bishop Ridel as interpreter and three of his converts as 
pilots, three French vessels were sent to explore the Han River 
and to make effort to secure satisfaction for the murder of the 
French bishops and priests in the previous March. They entered 
the river September 21, and two of the vessels advanced to Seoul, 
leaving one at the mouth of the river. One or two forts fired on 
the vessels as they steamed along, and in one place a fleet of 
junks gathered to dispute their passage. A well-aimed shot sunk 
two of the crazy craft, and a bombshell dropped among the ar- 
tillerists in the redoubt, silenced it at once. On the evening of 
the 25th, the two ships cast anchor and the flag of France floated 
in front of the Corean capital. The hills were white with gazing 
thousands, who for the first time saw a vessel moving under steam. 
The ships remained abreast of the city several days, the officers 
taking soundings and measurements, computing heights, and mak- 
ing plans. Bishop Ridel went on shore in hopes of finding a 
Christian and hearing some news but none dared to approach 
him. While the French remained in the river not a bag of rice 
nor a fagot of wood entered Seoul. Eight days of such terror, 
and a famine would have raged in the city. Seven thousand 
houses were deserted by their occupants. When the ships re- 
turned to the mouth of the river two converts came on board. 
They informed Ridel of the burning of a "European" vessel, the 
General Sherman, at Ping- Yang, of the renewal of the persecu- 
tion, and of the order that Christians should be put to death with- 
out waiting for instructions from Seoul. Sailing away, the ships 
arrived at Chefoo, October 3. 

The regent, now thoroughly alarmed, began to stir up the 
country to defense. The military forces in every province were 
called out, and tlie forges and blacksmith shops were busy day 
and night in making arms of every known kind. Loaded junks 



340 REPULSE OF THE FRENCH. 

were sunk in the channel of the Han to obstruct it. Word was 
sent to the tycoon of Japan informing him of the trouble, and 
begging for assistance, but the Yeddo government had quite all it 
could do at that time to take care of itself. Instead of help two 
commissioners were appointed to go to Seoul and recommend that 
Corea open her ports to foreign commerce as Japan had done, and 
thus choose peace instead of war with foreigners. Before the 
envoys could leave Japan the tycoon had died, and the next year 
Japan was in the throes of civil war, the shogunate was abolished, 
and Corea was for the time utterly forgotten. 

Another fleet of French vessels sailed from China to Corea, 
consisting of seven ships of various kinds, and with six hundred 
soldiers. The force landed before the city of Kang-wa on the 
island of the same name, and captured the city without difficulty 
on the morning of October 16. Several engagements in the same 
vicinity followed, all of them successful to the French until they 
came to attack a fortified monastery on the island some ten days 
later. Here they were repulsed with heavy loss to themselves 
and to the foe. The next morning to the surprise of all and the 
anger of many, orders were given to embark. The troops in 
Kang-wa set fire to the city which in a few hours burned to ashes. 
The departure of the invaders was so precipitate that Corean 
patriots to this day gloat over it as a disgraceful retreat. 

In the palace at Seoul the resolve was made to exterminate 
Christianity, root and branch. Women and even children were 
ordered to the death. Several Christian nobles were executed. 
One Christian who was betrayed in the capital by his pagan 
brother, and another fellow believer, were taken to the river side 
in front of the city, near the place where the two French vessels 
had anchored. At this historic spot, by an innovation unknown 
in the customs of Cho-sen, they were decapitated and their head- 
less trunks held neck downward to spout out the hot life blood, 
that it might wash away the stain of foreign pollution. Upon the 
mind of the regent and court the effect was to swell their pride 
to the folly of extravagant conceit. Feeling themselves able 
almost to defy the world, they began soon after to hurl their de- 
fiance at Japan. The results of this expedition were disastrous 
all over the east. Happening at a time when relations between 



EFFECTS OF THE llETREAT. 341 

foreigners and Chinese were strained, the unexpected return of 

the fleet filled the minds of Europeans in China with alarm. 

The smothered embers of hostility to foreign influence, steadily 

gathered vigor as the report spread through China that the hated 

Frenchmen had been driven away by the Coreans. The fires at 

length broke out in the Tien-tsin massacre of 1870. 

^ It was this same year, 1866, that witnessed the marriage of the 

young king, now but fourteen years old, to Min, the daughter of 

one of the noble families. Popular report has always credited 

the young queen with abilities not inferior to those of her royal •> ? *^' 

husband. The Min or Ming family is largely Chinese in blood ■" ,# ^!Lf^ 

and origin, and beside being preeminent among all the Corean '"'"'^ 

nobility in social, political, and intellectual power, has been most 

strenuous in adherence to Chinese ideas and traditions with the 

purpose of keeping Corea unswerving in her vassalage and loyalty 

to China. 

American associations with Corea have been peculiarly interest- 
ing. The commerce carried on by American vessels with Chinese | 
and Japanese ports made the navigation of Corean waters a ne- 
cessity. Sooner or later shipwrecks must occur, and the question 
of the humane treatment of American citizens cast on Corean 
shores came up before our government for settlement, as it had 
long before in the case of Japan. Within one year the Corean 
government had three American cases to deal withp> June 24, 
1866, the American schooner Surprise, was wrecked off the coast 
of Wang-hai. The approach of any foreign vessel was especially 
dangerous at this time, as the crews might be mistaken for French- 
men and killed by the people from patriotic impulses. Neverthe- 
less, the captain and his crew, after being well catechised by the 
local magistrate and by a commissioner sent from Seoul, were 
kindly treated and well fed and provided with the comforts of 
life. By orders of Tai-wen Kun, the regent, they were escorted 
on horseback to Ai-chiu and after being feasted there were con- 
ducted safely to the border gate. Thence after a hard journey 
via Mukden they got to Niuchwang and to the United States 
consul. 

The General Sherman was an American schooner that had the 
second experience with the Coreans. The vessel was owned by 



342 AMERICAN AFFAIRS IN COREA. 

a Mr. Preston who was making a voyage for health. At Tien-tsin 
the schooner was loaded with goods likely to be salable in Corea, 
and she was dispatched there on an experimental voyage in the 
hope of thus opening the country to commerce. The complement 
of the vessel was five white foreigners and nineteen Malay and 
Chinese sailors. The white men were Mr. Hogarth, a young 
Englishman, Mr. Preston, the owner, and Messrs. Page and 
Wilson, the master and mate of the vessel, and the Rev. Mr. 
Thomas, a missionary, who were Americans. From the first the 
character of the expedition was suspected, because the men were 
rather too heavily armed for a peaceful trading voyage. It was 
believed in China that the royal coffins in the tombs of Ping- Yang 
were of solid gold, and it was broadly hinted that the expedition 
had something to do with these. 

The schooner, whether merchant or invader, sailed from Chefoo 
and made for the mouth of the Tatong River. There they met the 
Chinese captain of a Chefoo junk who agreed to })ilot them up 
the river. He stayed with the General Sherman for two days, 
then leaving her he returned to the river's mouth, and sailed back 
to Chefoo. No farther direct intelligence was ever received from 
the unfortvmate party. According to one report the hatches of 
the schooner were fastened down after the crew had been driven 
beneath, and set on fire. According to another, all were de- 
capitated. The Coreans burned the woodwork for the iron and 
took the cannon for models. 

The United States steamship Wachusett, dispatched by Admiral 
Rowan to inquire into the matter, reached Chefoo January 14, 
1867, and took on board the Chinese pilot of the General Sher- 
man. Leaving Chefoo they cast anchor two days later at the 
mouth of the large inlet next south of the Tatong River, thinking 
that they had reached their destination. A letter was dispatched 
to the capital of the province demanding that the murderers be 
produced on the deck of the vessel. Five days elapsed before the 
answer arrived, during which the surveying boats were busy. 
Many natives were met and spoken with, who all told one story, 
that the Sherman's crew were murdered by the people and not by 
official instigation. In a few days an officer from one of the 
villages appeared. He would give neither information nor satis- 



THE GENERAL SHERMAN CASE. 345 

faction, and the gist of his reiteration was "go away as soon a* 
possible." Commander Shufeldt, bound by his orders, could do 
nothing more, and being compelled also by stress of weather came 
away. 

Later in the year Dr. Williams, Secretary of the United States 
Legation at Peking, succeeded in obtaining an interview with a 
member of the Corean embassy, who told him that after the 
General Sherman got aground she careened over as the tide 
receded, and her crew landed to guard or float her. The natives 
gathered around them, and before long an altercation arose. A 
general attack began upon the foreigners, in which every man was 
killed by the mob. About twenty of the natives lost their lives. 
Dr. Williams' comment is, " The evidence goes to uphold the 
presumption that they invoked their sad fate by some rash or 
violent act towards the natives." 

The United States steamship Shenandoah was sent to make 
further investigation, and this version of the story was given to 
the commander. The Coreans said that when the Sherman 
arrived in the river, the local officials went on board and addressed 
the two foreign officers of the ship in respectful language. The 
latter grossly insulted the native dignitaries. The Coreans treated 
their visitors kindly, but warned them of their danger and the un- 
lawfulness of penetrating into the country. Nevertheless, the 
foreigners went up the river to Ping- Yang where they seized the 
ship of one of the city officials, put him in chains, and proceeded 
to rob the junks and their crews. The people of the city aroused 
to wrath, attacked the foreign ship with firearms and cannon ; 
they set adrift fire rafts and even made a hand to hand fight with 
knives and swords. The foreigners fought desperately, but the 
Coreans overpowered them. Finally the ship caught fire and 
blew up with a terrible report. This story was not, of course, 
believed by the American officers, but even the best wishers and 
friends of the Sherman adventurers cannot stifle suspicion of 
either cruelty or insult to the natives. Remembering the kind- 
ness shown to the crew of the Surprise it is difficult to believe 
that the General Sherman's crew was murdered without cause. 

In 1884 Lieutenant J. B. Bernadon, of the United States navy, 
made a journey from Seoul to Ping- Yang, and being able to speaV 
22 



346 AMERICAN EXPEDITIONS. 

Corean, secured the following information from native Christians: 
The governor of Ping- Yang sent officers to inquire the mission of 
the Sherman. To gratify their curiosity large numbers of the 
common people set out also in boats which the Sherman's crew 
mistook for a hostile demonstration and fired guns in the air to 
warn them off. When the river fell the Sherman grounded and 
careened over, which being seen from tlie city walls, a fleet of 
boats set out with hostile intent and were fired upon. Officers 
and people now enraged, started fire rafts, and soon the vessel, 
though with white flag hoisted, was in flames. Of those who 
leaped into the river most were drowned. Of those picked up one 
was the Rev. Mr. Thomas, who was able to talk Corean. He 
explained the meaning of the white flag, and begged to be sur- 
rendered to China. His prayer was in vain. In a few days all 
tlie prisoners were led out and publicly executed. 

In the spring of 1867 an expedition was organized by a French 
Jesuit priest who spoke Corean, having been a missionary in the 
country ; a German Jew named Ernest Oppert ; and the inter- 
preter at the United States consulate in Shanghai, a man named 
Jenkins. These worthies, it is said, conceived a plan to steal the 
body of one of the dead Corean monarchs, and hold it for ransom. 
With two steam vessels and a crew of sailors, laborers, and cool- 
ies, the riffraff of humanity, such as swarm in every Chinese 
port, they left Shanghai the last day of April, steamed to Naga- 
saki, and then to the west coast of Corea, landing in the river 
which flows into Prince Jerome Gulf. The steam tender which 
accompanied the larger vessel took an armed crowd up the river 
as far as possible, and from this point the march across the open 
country to the tomb was begun. Their tools were so ineffective 
that they could not move the rocky slab which covered the sar- 
cophagus, and they were compelled to give up their task. Dur- 
ing their return march they were attacked by the exasperated 
Coreans, but were able to protect themselves without great diffi- 
culty. During the remainder of their buccaneering trip, which 
lasted ten days, they had various skirmishes and two or three of 
their party were killed. On their return to Shanghai the Amer- 
ican of the party was arrested and tried before the United States 
consul, but it was impossible to prove the things with which Jen- 



SEEKING A TREATY. 347 

kins was charged, and he was dismissed. A few years later Op- 
pert published a work in which he told the story of his different 
voyages to Corea, including this last one. In writing of the last 
he takes pains to gloss over the intentions of his journey and to 
explain the good motives behind it. . 

The representations made to the department of state at Wash- 
ington by the United States diplomatic corps in China concerning 
these different attempts to enter Corea, directed the attention of 
the United States government to the opening of Corea to Ameri- 
can commerce. The state department in 1870 resolved to under- 
take the enterprise. Frederick F. Low, minister of the United 
States to Peking, and Rear Admiral John Rodgers, commander in 
chief of the Asiatic squadron, were entrusted with the delicate 
mission. The American squadron consisted of the flagship Colo- 
rado, the corvettes Alaska and Dimitia, and the gunboats Monoc- 
acy and Palos. In spite of the formidable appearance of the navy, 
the vessels were either of an antiquated type, or of too heavy a 
draft, witli their armament defective. All the naval world in 
Chinese waters wondered why the Americans should be content 
with such old fashioned ships unworthy of the gallant crews who 
manned them. 

The squadron anchored near the mouth of the Han River May 
30, 1871. Approaching the squadron in a junk, some natives 
made signs of friendship and came on board without hesitation. 
They bore a missive acknowledging the receipt of the letter which 
the Americans had sent to Corea some months before, by a special 
courier from the Chinese court. This reply announced that three 
nobles had been appointed by the regent for a conference. The 
next day a delegation of eight officers of the third and fifth rank 
came on board, evidently with intent to see the minister and ad- 
miral to learn all they could and gain time. They had little 
authority and no credentials, but the}' were sociable, friendly and 
in good humor. Neither of the envoys would see them, because 
they lacked rank and credentials and authority. The Corean en- 
voys were informed that soundings would be taken in the river 
and the shores would be surveyed. 

The best judges of eastern diplomacy think that this mission 
was very poorly managed. These envoys were sent ashore, and 



348 BRAVE FIGHTING. 

at noon on the 2nd of June the survey fleet moved up the river. 
The fleet consisted of four steam launches abreast, followed by 
the Palos and Monocacy. But a few minutes passed until from a 
fort on the shore a severe fire was opened on the moving boats. 
The Americans promptly returned the fire, with the result that 
the old Palos injured herself by the cannon kicking her sides out. 
The Monocacy also struck a rock and began to leak badly, but 
after hammering at the forts until they were all silenced, the 
squadron was able to return down the river and not greatly in- 
jured. Strange to say only one American was wounded and none 
were killed. It was a strong evidence of the poor marksmanship 
of Corean gunners. 

Ten days were now allowed to pass before further action was 
taken, then the same force started up the river again, enlarged by 
twenty boats conveying a landing force of xX hundred and fifty 
men. These were arranged in ten companies of infantry and 
seven pieces of artillery. The squadron proceeded up the river 
on the morning of the 10th of June, and soon after noon, having 
demolished and emptied the first fort, the troops were landed. 
The next day they began the march and soon reached another 
fortification which was deserted. Here all of the artillery was 
tumbled into the river and the fort was named Monocacy. In 
another hour, another citadel was reached, attacked, and con- 
quered by the united efforts of the troops on shore and the ves- 
sels in the stream. The final charge of the American troops up 
a steep incline met a terrible reception. The Coreans fought 
with furious courage in hand to hand conflict. Finally the enemy 
was completely routed, some three hundred and fifty of them 
being killed. On the American side three were killed, and ten 
wounded. Before the day was over two more forts were captured. 
The result of the forty-eight hours on shore, of which only eigh- 
teen were spent in the field, was the capture of five forts, probably 
the strongest in the kingdom, fifty flags, and four hundred and 
eighty-one pieces of artillery. The work of destruction was car- 
ried on and made as thorough as fire, ax and shovel could make 
it, and this was all on Sunday, June 11. 

Early on Monday morning the whole force was re-embarked in 
perfect order, in spite of the furious tide. The fleet moved down 



WAR WITH THE HEATHEN. 349 

the stream with the captured colors at the mast heads, and towing 
the boats laden with the trophies of victory. Later in the day 
the men slain in the fight were buried on Boisee Island, and the 
first American graves rose on Corean soil. 

Admiral Rodgers, having obeyed to the farthest limit the orders 
given him, and all hope of making a treaty being over, the fleet 
sailed for Chefoo on the 3rd of July, after thirty-five days' stay 
in Corean waters. 

" Our little war with the heathen," as the New York Herald 
styled it, attracted slight notice in the United States. In China 
the expedition was looked upon as a failure and a defeat. The 
popular Corean idea was that the Americans had come to avenge 
the death of pirates and robbers, and after several battles had 
been so surely defeated that they dare not attempt the task of 
chastisement again. 

When the mikado was restored to supreme power in Japan, and 
the department of foreign affairs was created, one of the first 
things attended to was to invite the Corean government to resume 
ancient friendship and vassalage. This summons, coming from 
a source unrecognized for eight centuries, and to a regent swollen 
with pride at his victory over the French and his success in extir- 
pating the Christian religion, was spurned with defiance. An in- 
solent and even scurrilous letter was returned to the mikado's 
government. The military classes, stung with rage, formed a war 
party, but the cabinet of Japan vetoed the scheme and in October, 
1873, Saigo, the leader of the war party, resigned and was re- 
turned to Satsuma to brood over his defeat. 

In 1873 the young king of Corea attained his majority. His 
father Tai-wen Kun, the Regent, by the act of the king was re- 
lieved of office and his bloody and cruel lease of power came to 
an end. The young sovereign proved himself a man of some 
mental vigor and independent judgment, not merely trusting to 
his ministers, but opening important documents in person. He 
was ably seconded by his wife, to whom was born in the same 
year an heir to the throne. 

The neutral belt of land, long inhabited by deer and tigers, had 
within the last few decades been overspread with squatters, brig- 
ands, and outlaws. The depredations of these border ruffians 



350 NEUTRAL STRIP ABOLISHED. 

had become intolerable both to China and Corea. In 1875 Li 
Hung Chang sending a force of picked Chinese troops with a 
gunboat to the Yalu broke up the nest of robbers and allowed 
settlers to enter the land. Two years later the Peking government 
shifted its frontier to the Yalu River, and Corean and Chinese 
territory was separated only by flowing water. The neutral strip 
was no more. 

In 1875 some sailors of one of the Japanese ironclads, landing 
near Kang-wa for water, were fired on by Corean soldiers under 
the idea that they were Americans or Frenchmen. The Japanese 
before this time had adopted uniforms of foreign style for their 
navy. Retaliating, the Japanese two days later stormed and dis- 
mantled the fort, shot most of the garrison, and carried the spoils 
to the ships. The news of this affair brought the wavering minds 
of both the peace and the war party of Japan to a decision. An 
envoy was dispatched to Peking to find out the exact relation of 
China to Corea, and secure her neutrality. At the same time an- 
other was sent with the fleet to the Han River, to make if possi- 
ble a treaty of friendship and open ports. General Kuroda hav- 
ing charge of the latter embassy, with men of war, transports, 
and marines, reached Seoul February the 6th, 1876. About the 
same time a courier from Peking arrived in the capital, bearing 
the Chinese imperial recommendation that a treaty be made with 
the Japanese. The temper of the young king had been mani- 
fested long before this by his rebuking the district magistrate of 
Kang-wa for allowing soldiers to fire on peaceably disposed people, 
and ordering the offender to degradation and exile. Arinori 
Mori in Peking had received a written disclaimer of China's re- 
sponsibility over Corea, by which stroke of policy the Middle 
Kingdom freed herself from all possible claims of indemnity from 
France, the United States, and Japan. 

After several days of negotiation the details of the treaty were 
settled, and on February 27 the treaty in which Chosen was rec- 
ognized as an independent nation was signed and attested. 
The first Corean embassy which had been accredited to the mi- 
kado's court since the Twelfth century, sailed from Fusan in a Jap- 
anese steamer, landing at Yokohama, May 29. By railroad and 
steam cars they reached Tokio, and on the first of June the envoy 



JAPAN AND COREA MAKE TREATY. 351 

had audience of the mikado. For three weeks the Japanese 
amused, enlightened and startled their guests by showing them 
their war ships, arsenals, artillery, torpedoes, schools, buildings, 
factories, and offices, equipped with steam and electricity, the 
ripened fruit of the seed planted by Perry in 1854. All attempts 
of foreigners to hold any communication with them were firmly 
rejected by the Coreans. Among the callers witli diplomatic 
powers from the outside world in 1881, each eager and ambitious 
to be the first in wresting the coveted prize of a treaty, were two 
British captains of men-of-war and a French naval ofiicer, all of 
whom sailed away with rebuffs. 

Under the new treaty Fusan soon became a bustling place of 
trade with a Japanese population of some two thousand. Public 
buildings were erected for the Japanese consulate, chamber of 
commerce, bunk, steamship company, and hospitals. A news- 
paper was established, and after a few years of mutual contact at 
Fusan the Coreans, though finding the Japanese as troublesouie 
as the latter discovered foreigners to be after their own ports were 
opened, with much experience settled down to endure them for 
the sake of a trade which was undoubtedly enriching the country. 
Gensan was opened May 1, 1880. An exposition of Japanese, 
European, and American goods was established for the benefit of 
trade with the Coreans. 

:- Russia, England, France, Italy, and the United States all made 
efforts in the next few months to make treaties with Corea, and 
all were politely rejected. Early in 1881 Chinese and Japanese 
influence began to be enlisted in favor of the United States in the 
effort to make a treaty. Li Hung Chang, China's liberal states- 
man, wrote a letter to a Corean gentleman in which he advised 
the country to seek the friendship of the United States. The 
Chinese secretary of legation at Tokio also declared to the Co- 
reans that Americans were the natural friends of Asiatic nations, 
and should be welcomed. It began to look more hopeful for the 
United States to secure her treaty through the influence of the 
Chinese than that of the Japanese, on whom we had previously 
depended. One of the most important moves in the advancement 
of Corea's civilization was the sending of a party of thirty-four 
prominent men to visit Japan, and further study the problem of 



352 AMERICAN TREATY SIGNED. 

liow far western ideas were adapted to an oriental state. The 
leader of this party, after his return from Japan, was dispatched 
on a mission to China, where his conference was chiefly with Li 
Hung Chang. He had now a good opportunity of judging the 
relative merits of Japan and China. The results of this mission 
were soon apparent, for shortly after, eighty young men were sent 
to Tien-tsin where they began to diligently pursue their studies of 
western civilization as it had impressed itself on China in the 
arsenals and schools. 

The spirit of progress made advance from the beginning of 
1882, but discussion reached fever heat in deciding whether the 
favor of Japan or China should be most sought, and which for- 
eign nation should be first admitted to treaty rights. An event 
not unlooked-for, increased the power of the progressionists. 
Kozaikai urged the plea of expulsion of foreigners in such intem- 
perate language that he was accused of reproaching the sovereign. 
At the same time a conspiracy against the life of the king was 
discovered. Kozaikai was put to death, many of the conspirators 
were exiled, and the ringleaders were sentenced to be broken 
alive on the wheel. The progressionists had now the upper hand, 
and early in the spring two envoys went to Tien-tsin to inform 
Americans and Chinese that the Corean government was ready 
to make a treaty. Meanwhile Japanese officers were drilling 
the Corean soldiers in Seoul. 

The American diplomatic agent, Commodore R. W. Shufeldt, 
arrived in the Swatara off Chemulpo May 7. Accompanied by 
thi-ee officers he went six miles into the interior, to the office of 
the Corean magistrate, to formulate the treaty. Two days after- 
ward the treaty document was signed, in a temporary pavilion on 
a point of land opposite the ship. Both on the American and 
Corean side this result had been brought about only after severe 
toil and prolonged effort. 

Four days after the signing of the American treaty, the crown- 
prince, a lad of nine years old, was married in Seoul. This year 
will be forever known as the year of the treaties. Within a few 
months treaties were signed by Corea with Great Britain, France, 
Germany, Italy and China. Within a week there appeared in the 
harbor of Chemulpo two American, three British, one French, one 



OUTBREAK IN SEOUL. Coo 

Japanese, one German and five Chinese armed vessels ; all of them 
except the French had left by June 8, to the great relief of the 
country people, many of whom had fled to the hills when the big 
guns began to waste their powder in salutes. 

The Japanese legation in Seoul now numbered about forty per- 
sons. They seemed to suspect no imminent danger, althougli the 
old fanatic and tyrant Tai-wen Kun was still alive and plotting. 
He was the centre of all the elements hostile to innovation, and 
being a man of unusual ability, was possessed of immense influ- 
ence. During the nine years of his nominal retirement from of- 
fice, this bigoted Confucianist who refused to know anything of 
the outer world waited his opportunity to make trouble. Just 
then the populace was most excited over the near presence of the 
foreigners at Chemulpo, the usual rainfall was withheld, and in 
the consequent drought the rice crop was threatened with total 
failure. The sorcerers and the anti-foreign party took advantage 
of the situation to play on the fears of the superstitious people. 
The spirits displeased at the intrusion of the western devils were 
angry, and were cursing the land. 

While the king was Qut in the open air praying for rain July 
23, a mob of sympathizers with the old regent attempted to seize 
him. The king escaped to the castle. Some mischief-maker then 
started the report that the Japanese had attacked the royal castle 
and had seized the king and queen. Forthwith the mob rushed 
with frantic violence upon the legation, murdering the Japanese 
policemen and students whom they met on the streets, and the 
Japanese military instructors in the barracks. Not satisfied with 
this, the rioters, numbering four thousand men, attacked and de- 
stroyed the houses of the ministers favoring intercourse. Many 
of the Mins and seven Japanese were killed. The Japanese le- 
gation attaches made a brave defence to the night attack which 
was made on them. Armed only with swords and pistols, the 
Japanese formed themselves into a circle, charged the mob, and 
cut their way through it. After an all night march through a se- 
vere storm, the little band fighting its way for much of the time, 
reached In-chiun at three o'clock the next day. The governor re- 
ceived them kindly and supplied food and dry clothing, tlien post- 
ing sentinels to watch so that the Japanese could get some rest. 



C56 JAPANESE FORCE RESPECT. 

In an hour the mob attacked them there, and they were again 
compelled to cut their way out. They now made for Chemulpo, 
the seaport of the city, and about miduiglit, having procured a 
junk, they put to sea. The next morning they were taken on 
board a British vessel which was surveying the coast, and a few 
days later were landed at Nagasaki. 

Without hesitation the Japanese government began prepara- 
tions for a military and naval attack. Hanabusa, the minister to 
Corea and his suite were sent back to Seoul, escorted by a mili- 
tary force. He was received with courtesy in the capital whence 
he had been driven three weeks ago. The fleet of Chinese war 
ships was also at hand, and everything was apparently under the 
control of Tai-wen Kun, who now professed to be friendly to for- 
eigners. At his audience with the king, Hanabusa presented the 
demands of his government. These were nominally agreed to, 
but several days passing without satisfactory action, Hanabusa 
having exhausted remonstrance and argument left Seoul and re- 
turned to his ship. This unexpected move, a menace of war, 
brought the usurper to terms. On receipt of Tai-wen Kun's 
apologies, the Japanese envoy returned to the capital and full 
agreement was given to all the demands of Japan by the Corean 
government. The insurgents were arrested and punished, the 
heavy indemnity was paid, and an apology was sent by a special 
embassy to Japan. Within the next few days Tai-wen Kun was 
taken on board a Chinese ship at the orders of Li Hung Chang 
and taken to Tien-tsin. It is generally believed that this action 
was practically a kidnapping, but whether to rescue Tai-wen 
Kun from the dangers which threatened him or to maintain 
China's old theory of sovereign control over Corean rulers it is 
hard to know. 

The treaty negotiated with the United States was duly ratified 
by our senate, and Lucius H. Foote was appointed minister to 
Corea. General Foote reached Chemulpo in the United States 
steamship Monocacy May 13, and the formal ratifications of the 
treaty were exchanged in Seoul six days later. The guns of the 
Monocacy, the same which shelled the Han forts in 1870, fired the 
first salute ever given to the Corean flag. The king responded by 
sending to the United States an embassy of eleven persons led by 



COREANS IN AMERICA. 357 

Min Yong Ik and Hong Yong Sik, members respectively of the 
conservative and liberal parties. 

Their interview with President Arthur was in the parlors of 
the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, on September 17. All the 
Coreans were dressed in their national custom, which they wore 
habitually while in America. After spending some weeks in the 
study of American Institutions in several cities, part of the em- 
bassy returned home by way of San Francisco, leaving one of 
their number at Salem, Mass., to remain as a student ; while Min 
Yong Ik and two secretaries embarked on the United States 
steamship Trenton, and after visiting Europe, reached Seoul in 
June, 1884. 



GEOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT, CIvIMATE AND PRO- 
UCTS OF COREA. 



Geograpliical Limits of Corea— Cliaraeteristiesof the Coast Line— The Surface Configura- 
tion of tlie Country— Isolation Made Easy by the Charntfer of its Boundaries— Rivers of tlie 
Peninsula— Tlie Climate— Forests, Plants, and Animals— Products of the Soil and of tlie Mine 
—Extent of Foreign Trade— The Eight provinces of Corea, Their Extent, Cities, and History 
-Government of the Corean Kingdom— The Dignitaries and their Duties— Corruption in 
the Administration of Official Duties— Buying and Selling Office- The Executive and the 
Judiciary. 

For many a year the country of Corea has been known in little 
more than name. Its territory is a peninsula on the east coast of 
Asia, between Cl;iina on the continent, and the Japanese islands 
to the eastward. It extends from thirty-four degrees and thirty 
minutes to forty-three degrees north latitude, and from one 
hundred and twenty -four degrees and thirty minutes to one 
hundred and thirty degrees and thirty minutes east longitude, 
between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea 
separates it from the southern provinces of China, while the Sea 
of Japan and the Strait of Corea separate it from the Japanese 
islandsc It has a coast line of about one thousand seven hundred 
and forty miles, and a total area of about ninety thousand square 
miles. The peninsula, with its outlying islands, is nearly equal 
iir size to Minnesota or to Great Britian. In general shape and 
relative position to the Asiatic continent it resembles Florida. 
Tradition and geological indications lead to tlie belief that an- 
ciently the Chinese promontory and province of Shan-tung, and 
the Corean peninsula were connected, and that dry land once 
covered the space filled by the waters joining the Gulf of Pechili 
and the Yellow Sea. These waters are so shallow that tjje eleva- 
tion of their bottoms but a few feet would restore their area to 
the land surface of the globe. On the other side also, the Sea 
of Japan is very shallow and the Straits of Corea at their greatest 
depth have but eighty-three feet of water. 

The east coast is high, mountainous, and but slightly indented, 
358 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COASTS OF COREA. 359 

with very few islands or harbors. The south and west shores are 
deeply and manifoldly scooped and fringed with numerous 
islands. From these island-skirted shores, especially on the west 
coast, mud banks extend out to sea beyond sight. While the 
tide on the east coast is very slight, only two feet at Gensan, it 
increases on the south and west coasts in a north direction, rising 
to thirty -three feet at Chemulpo. The rapid rise and fall of tides, 
and the vast area of mud left bare at low water, cause frequent 
fogs, and render the numerous inlets little available except for 
native craft. On the west coast the rivers are frozen in winter, 
but the east coast is open the whole winter through. 

Quelpaert, the largest island, forty by seventeen miles, lies 
sixty miles south of the main land. Port Hamilton, between 
Quelpaert and Corea, was for a time an English possession, but in 
1886 was given to China. The Russians are generally believed to 
have an overweening desire for the magnificent harbor of Port 
Lazaref on the east coast of the Corean mainland. In its policy 
of exclusion of all foreigners, the government has had its tasks 
facilitated by the inaccessible and dangerous nature of the 
approaches to the coast. The high mountain ranges and steep 
rocks of the east coast, and the thousands of islands, banks, 
shoals and reefs extending for miles into the sea on the western 
and southern shores, unite to make approach exceedingly difficult, 
even with the best charts and surveys at hand. 

In the middle of the northern boundary of Corea, is the most 
notable natural feature of the peninsula. It is a great mount- 
ain, the colossal Paik-tu or " ever white " mountain, as it is known 
from the snow that rests upon its summit. When the Man- 
choorians pushed the Coreans farther and farther back, they 
reached this mountain, which marked the natural barrier which 
they were able to make their permanent boundary line. Accord- 
ing to native account, which in Corea is seriously believed, the 
highest peak of this mountain reaches the moderate elevation of 
forty four miles. It is famous as the birthplace of Corean folk 
lore, and a great deal that is mythical hangs about it still. On 
the top of the peak is a lake thirty miles in ciicumference. From 
this lake flow two streams, one to the north-east, the Tumen, 
which enters the Sea of Japan ; and the other to the south-west, 



360 RIVERS OF THE PENINSULA, 

the Yalu river, which flows into the Corean bay at the head of 
the Yellow Sea. Corea is therefore in reality an island. These 
two rivers and the lake forming the northern boundary are about 
four hundred and sixty miles from the ocean at the southern end 
of the peninsula. The greatest width of the country is three 
hundred and sixty miles and its narrowest about sixty miles. 

The Turaen river separates Corea from Manchooria, except in 
the last few miles of its course, when it flows by Russian terri- 
tory, the south-eastern corner of Siberia. The Yalu river also 
divides Corea from Manchooria. The rivers of Corea are not of 
great importance except for drainage and water supply, being 
navigable but for short distances. On the west coast the chief 
rivers are the Yalu, the Ching-chong, the Tatong, the Han, the 
Kum ; the Yalu is navigable for about one hundred and seventy 
miles and is by far the greatest of all in the peninsula. The Han 
is navigable to a little above Seoul, eighty miles ; the Tatong to 
Ping-Yang, seventy-five miles; and the Kum is navigable for 
small boats for about thirty miles. In the south-eastern part of 
the peninsula the Nak-tong is navigable for small boats to a dis- 
tance of one hundred and forty miles. The Tumen river, which 
forms the north-eastern boundary between Corea and Siberia, is 
not navigable except near the mouth. It drains a mountainous 
and rainy country. Ordinarily it is shallow and quiet, but in 
spring its current becomes very turbulent and swollen. 

Occupying about the same latitude as Italy, Corea is also, like 
Italy, hemmed in on the north by mountain ranges, and traversed 
from north to south by another chain. The whole peninsula is 
very mountainous, some of the peaks rising to a height of eight 
thousand feet. 

The climate of the country is excellent, bracing in the north, 
with the south tempered by the ocean breezes in summer. The 
winters in the north are colder than those of American states in 
the same latitude, and the summers are hotter. The heat is 
tempered by sea breezes, but in the narrow enclosed valleys it 
becomes very intense. The Han is frozen at Seoul for three 
months in the year, sufficiently to be used as a cart road, while 
the Tumen is usually frozen for five months. 

Various kinds of timber abound, except in the west, whera 



FAUNA AN^D FLORA. 



361 



wood is scarce and is sparingly used ; and in otlier parts the want 
of coal has caused the wasteful destruction of many a forest. 
The fauna is very considerable and besides tigers, leopa.rds, and 
deer, includes pigs, wild cats, badgers, foxes, beavers, otters, 
martens, bears, and a great variety of birds. The salamander is 
found in the streams as in western Japan. The domestic animals 
are few. The cattle are excellent, the bull being the usual beast 
of burden, the pony very small but hardy, fowls good, the pigs 
inferior. 

Immense numbers of oxen are found in the south, furnishing 
the meat diet craved by the people, who eat much more of fatty 

food than the Japanese. 
Goats are rare. Sheep are 
imported from China only 
for sacrificial purposes. The 
dog serves for food as well as 
for companionship and de- 
fense. Of birds the pheas- 
ants, falcons, eagle, crane, 
and stork are common. 

Among the products are 

rice, wheat, beans, cotton, 

hemp, corn, sesame, and 

perilla. Ginseng grows wild 

^ ^<!^'^V-^*nS5-^ in the Kange mountains and 

coREAN BULL HARROWING. is also much Cultivated about 

Kai-seng, the duties upon it, notwithstanding much smuggling, 

yielded about half a million dollars annually. 

Iron ore of excellent quality is mined ; and there are copper 
mines in several places. The output of the silver mines is very 
small, but the customs returns for 1886 show the value of gold 
exported that year to be $503,296. The principal industries are 
the manufacture of paper, mats woven of grass, split-bamboo 
blinds, oil paper, and silk. The total value of the foreign im- 
ports in 1887 was $2,300,000, two-thirds representing cotton 
goods ; the native exports reached about $700,000, chiefly beans 
and cow hides. The foreign vessels entering the treaty ports 
yearly number about seven hundred and fifty, of some two hun- 




362 



INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCIAL LIFE. 



^ 



dred thousand tons burden. Three-fouiths of the trade is with 
Japan and more thaa one-fifth with China ; British goods go by 
way of these countries. Until 1888 business was done chiefly 
by barter, imports being exchanged largely for gold dust, and 
Japanese silk piece goods being a current exchange for trade 
inland. In that year the mint at Seoul was completed, and a 
beneficial effect on commerce resulted from the introduction of a 
convenient and sufficient coinage. Seoul is connected by tele- 
graph with Taku, 



Port Arthur, 
Chemulpo, Gen- 
san, and Fusan. 

Corea is divided 
into eight pro- 
vinces, three on the 
east coast and five 
on the west coast. 
These eight pro- 
vinces are divided 
into sixty districts 
with about three 
hundred and sixty 
cities, only sixty 
of which however 
are entitled to the 
name, the remain- 
der distinguishing 
themselves from 
the larger hamlets 
and villages merely by the walled-in residence of the chief govern- 
ment official. Only a portion of each real city is walled in ; but 
it must not be thought that these walls are in any way similar to 
those to be found in China, where even second and third rate cities 
are protected by high and strong fortifications with moats. Corean 
walls are usually about six feet high, miserably constructed, of 
irregular and uneven stone blocks, and nearly every one of them 
would tumble down at the first shock of a ball fired from a 
modern gun. 




COREAN CITY WALL. 



HISTORY OF THE NEUTRAL STRIP. 363 

Corea has for centuries successfully carried out the policy of 
isolation. Instead of a peninsula, her rulers strove to make her 
an accessible island, and insulate her from the shock of change. 
She has built, not a great wall of masonry, but a barrier of sea 
and river-flood, of mountain and devastated land, of palisade and 
cordon of armed sentinels. Frost and snow, storm and winter, 
she hailed as her allies. Not content with the sea border, she 
desolated her shores lest they should tempt the foreigner to land. 
In addition to this, between her Chinese neighbor and herself she 
placed a neutral space of unplanted, unoccupied land. This strip 
of forest and desolated plain twenty leagues wide, has stretched 
for three centuries between Corea and Manchooria. To form it, 
four cities and many villages were suppressed and left in ruins. 
The soil of these former solitudes is very good, the roads easy, and 
the hills not high. The southern boundary of this neutral ground 
has been the boundary of Corea-, while the northern boundary 
has been a wall of stakes, palisades and stone. Two centuries 
ago, this line of walls was strong, high, guarded and kept in 
repair, but year by year at last, during a long era of peace, they 
were suffered to fall into decay, and except for their ruins exist 
no longer. For centuries only the wild beasts, fugitives from 
justice, and outlaws from both countries have inhabited this fer- 
tile but forbidden territory. Occasionally borderers would culti- 
vate portions of it, but gathered the produce by night or stealth- 
ily by day, venturing on it as prisoners would step over the dead 
line. Of late years the Chinese government has respected the 
neutrality of this barrier less and less. Within a generation large 
portions of this neutral strip have been occupied ; parts of it 
have been surveyed and staked out by Chinese surveyors, and the 
Corean government has been too feeble to prevent the occu- 
pation. Though no towns or villages are marked on the map of 
this neutral territory, yet already a considerable number of small 
settlements exist upon it, and it was through them that the over- 
land marches of the Japanese army from Corea into Manchooria 
had to be made. 

The province which borders this neutral territory, is that of 
Ping-7ang or "Peaceful Quiet." It is the border land of the 
kingdom, containing what was for centuries the only ackuowl- 



364 PROVINCE OF PING-YANG. 

edged gate of entrance and outlet to the one neighbor which 
Corea willingly acknowledged as her superior. The battle of 
Ping- Yang recently fought, is only one of many which have 
interrupted the harmony of the province of " Peaceful Quiet." 
The town nearest the frontier and the gateway of the kingdom is 
Wi-ju. It is situated on a hill overlooking the Yalu river, and 
surrounded by a wall of light colored stone. The annual 
embassy always departed for its overland journey to China 
through its gates. Here also are the custom house and vigilant 
guards, whose chief business it was to scrutinize all persons 
entering or leaving Corea. Nevertheless most of the French 
missionaries have entered the mysterious peninsula through this 
loop-hole, disguising themselves as wood cutters, crossing the 
Yalu river on the ice, creeping through the water drains in the 
grand wall, and passing through this town, or they have been 
met by friends at appointed places along the border, and thence 
have traveled to the capital. Further details as to the political 
condition of this neutral strip will be included in a succeeding 
chapter, preliminary to the outbreak of the war. The Tatong 
river, which forms the southern boundary of the province, is the 
Rubicon of Corean history. At various epochs in ancient times 
it was the boundary river of China or of the rival states within 
the peninsula. About fifty miles from its mouth is the city of 
Ping-Yang, the metropolis and capital of the province and the 
royal seat of authority from before the Christian era to the 
tenth century. Its situation renders it a natural stronghold. It 
has been many times besieged by Chinese and Japanese armies, 
and near it many battles have been fought. 

The next province to the south is that of Hwanghai or the 
" Yellow Sea " province. This is the land of Corea that projects 
into the Yellow Sea directly opposite the Shan-tung promontory 
of China, on which are the ports of Chefoo and Wei-hai-wei. 
Tien-tsin, the seaport of Peking, is a little farther east. From 
these ports since the most ancient times, the Chinese armadas 
have sailed and invading armies have embarked for Corea. Over 
and over again has the river Tatong been crowded with fleets of 
junks, fluttering the dragon banners at their peaks. To guard 
against these invasions signal fires were lighted on the hill-tops 



WHERE INVADING ARMIES FOUGHT. 



which formed a cordon of flame and sped the alarm from coast to 
capital in a few hours. This province has been the camping 
ground of the armies of many nations. Here, beside the border 
forays which engaged the troops of the rival kingdom, the 
Japanese, Chinese, Mongols, and Manchoos have conte-nded for 
victory again and again. The principal cities of this province 
are Hai-chiu the capital, Hwang-ju an old baronial walled city, 
and the commercial city of Sunto or Kai-seng. Rock salt, flints, 
ginseng, varnish, and brushes made of the hair of wolf tails, are 
the principal products of the province. 

Kiung-kei is the province which contains the national capital, 

although it is the 
smallest of all. 
The city of Han 
Yang, or Seoul, is 
on the north side 
of the river, forty 
or fifty miles from 
its mouth. The 
name Han Yang 
means " the fort- 
ress on the Han 
river," while the 
common term ap- 
plied to the royal 
J city is Seoul, which 
means " the capi- 
tal." The popula. 
tion of the city is between two hundred thousand and two hundred 
and fifty thousand. The natural advantages of Seoul are excel- 
lent, as it is well protected by surrounding mountains, and its 
suburbs reach the navigable river. The scenery from the city is 
magnificent. The walls are of masonry, averaging about twenty 
feet in height, with arched stone bridges over the water courses. 
The streets are narrow and tortuous. The king's castle is in the 
northern part. The islands in the river near the capital are 
inhabited by fishermen. 

Four great fortresses guard the approaches to the royal city, 




GATE OP SEOUL. 



366 SEOUL AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS. 

all of which have been the scene of siege and battle in time past. 
The fortresses in succession are Suwen to the south, Kwang-chiu 
to the south-east, Sunto to the north and Kang-wa to the west. 
On the walls of the first three have been set the banners of the 
hosts of Ming from China and of Taiko from Japan, in the wars 
at the close of the sixteenth century. The Manchoo standard in 
1637 and the French eagles in 1866 were planted on the 
ramparts of Kang-wa. Beside these castled cities there are 
forts and redoubts along the river banks crowning most of the 
commanding headlands. Over these the stars and stripes floated 
for three days in 1871 when the American forces captured the 
strongholds. 

Sunto is one of the most important, if not the chief commercial 
city in the kingdom, and from 960 to 1392 it was the national 
capital. The chief staple of manufacture and sale is the coarse 
cotton cloth which forms the national dress. Kang-wa on 
the island of the same name, at the mouth of the Han river, is 
the favorite fortress to which the royal family are sent for safety 
in time of war, or are banished in case of deposition. 

The province Chung Chong or " Serene Loyalty " is the next 
one to the southward facing the Yellow Sea. In the history of 
Corean Christianity this province will be remembered as the 
nursery of the faith. Here were made the most converts to the 
teacliings of the French missionaries, and here persecutions were 
most violent. When the Japanese armies of invasion reached 
the capital in 1592, it was over the great highways from Fusan 
which cross this province. Chion-Chiu, the fortress on whose 
fate the capital depended, lies in the north-east of the province. 
The province contains ten walled cities, and like all its fellows it 
is divided into departments, right and left. 

The most southern of the eight provinces, Chulla or "Complete 
Network " is also the warmest and most fertile. It is nearest to 
Shanghai and to the track of foreign commerce. Considerable 
quantities of hides, bones, horns, leather, and tallow are exported 
to Japan. The beef supplied from the herds of cattle in the pas- 
tures of Chulla is famous, and troops of horses graze on the pas- 
ture land. The province is well furnished with ports and harbors. 
Christianity had quite a hold in this province, and when Corea 



THE SOUTH OF THE PENINSULA. 367 

was partly opened to the world there were many believers 
found in the north who were descendants of Christian martyrs. 
The capital is Chon-chiu. The soil of the province was the scene 
of many battles during the Chinese invasions of 1592-97. 

The island of Quelpaert is about sixty miles south of the main- 
land. It is mountainous, with one peak called Han-ra more than 
six thousand five hundred feet high. On its top are three extinct 
craters within each of which is a lake of pure water. Corean 
children are taught to believe that the three first created men of 
the world still dwell on these lofty heights. 

The most south-easterly province of Corea, and therefore the 
nearest to Japan, is Kiung-sang or the "Province of Respectful 
Congratulation." It is one of the richest of the eight provinces 
as well as the most populous, and the seat of many historical 
associations with Japan. The city of Kion-chiu was the capital 
of the ancient kingdom of Shiura, and from here to Kioto, from 
the third to the tenth century, the relations of war and peace, 
letters and religion were continuous and fruitful. The province 
has always been the gateway of entrance and exit to the Japan- 
ese. Fusan, the port which was held by the Japanese from very 
ancient times, is well at the south-eastern extremity of the penin- 
sula. Its fortifications are excellent, and its harbor well protected. 
Populous cities encircle the bay on which Fusan stands, and from 
this point extend two great roads to Seoul. The influence of cen- 
turies of close intercourse with their neighbors, the Japanese, is 
strongly marked in this province. 

The " River Meadow," or Kang-wen province fronts Japan from 
the middle of the eastern coast directly north of Kiung-sang. It 
is a province of beautiful scenery and precipitous mountains. The 
capital is Wen-chiu. The women of the province are said to be 
the most beautiful in Corea. 

V" Ham-kiung, or complete view, is that part of Corean territory 
adjoining the boundary of Russia. The south-eastern boundary 
of Siberia, which has been pushed farther south after every Euro- 
pean war with China, touched the Tumen river, the northern 
boundary of Corea, in 1858. It is but a little ways from the 
mouth of the Tumen river to the forts of Vladivostok and Possiet 
in Russian territory. From these cities extends a telegraph 



368 GREAT COREAX-MAXCHOORIAX FAIR. 

across Siberia to the cities of European Russia, and here will be the 
terminus of the great Trans-Siberian railway now under construc- 
tion. Possiet is connected with Xagasaki by an electric cable. In 
the event of a war between China and Russia, the Czar would 
most probably make Corea the basis of operations. Thousands 
of Coreans have left their own country to dwell in the neighboring 
portions of Siberia, and most of them are from the province of 
Ham-kiung. Persecuted Cliristians from all over the Corean pen- 
insula have however escaped to Russia for protection for many 
years. The port of Gensan near Port Lazaref, fronting Broughton's 
Bay has been opened for trade since May 1, 1880, and has been an 
important strategic and commercial point ever since. The capital 
city of this province is Ham-hung and there are fourteen other 
walled cities within its limits. Until the Russians occupied the 
adjoining territory, an annual fair was held at the Corea city of 
Kion-wen which lies close to the border. Here the Manchoo and 
Chinese merchants bartered their wares for those of Corean, the 
traffic lasting but two or three days and sometimes only one day. 
At the end of the fair any lingering Chinese not soon across the 
border was urged over at the point of a spear. Foreigners found 
within the Corean limits at any other time were apt to be ruth- 
lessly mtirdered.^ 

f The government of Corea, since the amalgamation of the differ- 
ent tribes and union of the various states five hundred years 
ago, has devolved upon an independent king, an hereditary mon- 
arch whose rule was absolute and supreme. Xext in authority to 
the king are the three Chong, or high ministers. The chief of 
these is the greatest dignitary of the kingdom, and in time of mi- 
nority or inability of the king wields royal authority. Tlie father 
of the present king ruled as regent up to the time when his son 
reached his majority in 1874. After the king and the three prime 
ministers, come the six heads of departments of government which 
rank next. These six department ministers are assisted by two other 
associates, the Cham-pan and the Cham-e. These four grades and 
twenty-one dignitaries constitute the royal council of Dai-jLn, 
though the actual authority is in the three ministers. All of the 
department ministers make daily reports of their affairs, and refer 
matters of importance to the supreme council. There are also 



FORMS OF GOVERNMENT IN COREA. 



3G9 



three chamberlains who record every day the acts and words of 
the king. A daily government gazette called the Cho-po is issued 
for information on official matters. The general cast and method 
of procedure in the court and government were copied in the be- 
ginning after the great model in Peking. The rule of the king 
in Corea is absolute, and his will alone is law. There has always 
existed, indeed, the office of a high functionary whose special duty 
consists in watching and controlling the royal actions. Formerly 
this office really had some significance, but of late years it has 
possessed none whatever. Another 
very curious institution has been 
that of the declared or official 
favorite, a position generally filled 
by some member of a noble family, 
or by one of the ministers whose 
influence for good or for evil was 
paramount with his royal master. 
The titles of the prime ministers 
are Chief of The Just Government, 
The Just Governor of the Left, 
and The Just Governor of the 
Right. The six department min- 
isters are those of the interior, or 
office and public employ, finance, 
war, education, punishments or 
justice, and public works. The 
duties of the minister of foreign 

COREAN MAGISTRATE AND SERVANT. «• • j i .1 • ■ . j? 

affairs devolve on the minister of 
education. 

Each of the eight provinces is under the direction of a Kam-sa 
or governor. The cities are divided into six classes, and are 
governed by officers of corresponding rank. Towns are given in 
charge of the petty magistrates, there being twelve ranks or 
dignities in the official class. In theory, any male Corean able to 
pass the government examination is eligible to office, but the 
greater number of the best positions are secured by the nobles 
and their friends. The terms of office in these posts, from tliat 
of provincial governorship down to the lowest are only for two or 




370 FORMS OF GOVERNMENT IN COREA. 

three years. At the end of that time the incumbent pays pur- 
chase money and is removed to another place. The natural result 
of this system is that the officials take little interest in their 
offices except to extort as much profit as possible from the people 
whom they are governing. With offices and honors sold to the 
highest bidder, the high officers sell justice and plunder their sub- 
ordinates, while these again try to indemnify themselves by 
further extortion. 

The magistrates lay great stress on the trifles of etiquette, and 
sumptuary laws exist referring to all sorts of the small things of 
life. The rule of the local authorities is very minute in all its 
ramifications. The system of making every five houses a social 
unit is universal. Every subject of the sovereign except nobles 
of rank must possess a passport testifying to his personality and 
must show his ticket on demand. 

Civil matters are decided by the ordinary civil magistrate, 
while criminal cases are tried by the military commandant. 
Very important cases are referred to the governor of the province, 
»nd thence appealed to the high court in the capital. 



CORKAN CHARACTERISTICS AND MANNERS OF 
LIFE. 



1 Physique of the People— Rigid Caste System— Slavery— Guilds and Trade Unions— Po- 
I sition of Women— Nameless and Oppressed— Marriage and Family Life— Burial and Mourn- 
I Ing Customs— Dress and Diet— Homes— Home Life— Children— Education— Outdoor Life— 
i^Music— Literature— Language— Religion. 

The Corean people are mainly of a Mongolian type, though 
there is some evidence that there is a Caucasian element in the 
stock. They are a little larger and steadier of physique than the 
Japanese, or the Chinese of the south, more nearly approaching 
to the northern Chinese and even to the tribes in the northeast of 
Asia. Frequently individuals are met, with hair not quite black, 
and even blue eyes and an almost English style of face. The 
characteristics of the people are distinguished to advantage from 
that of their Chinese neighbors by the openness and frankness of 
their demeanor. The Coreans, even of the low^er classes, are 
grave and sedate by nature, which, however, does not exclude a 
spirit of frank gayety shown on nearer acquaintance. They are 
thoroughly honest, faithful and good natured, and attach them- 
selves with an almost childlike confidence even to strangers and 
foreigners, when once they begin to trust in their sincerity. 

Firm, sure, and quick in his walk, the Corean possesses greater 
ease and a freer motion than the Chinese, to Avhom they are su- 
perior in height and bodily strength. On the other hand it can- 
not be denied that the Coreans rank considerably below the 
Chinese in cultivation of good manners, and they are Avanting in 
that little polish which is not absent even among the lower classes 
of China and Japan. 

The peculiarity of the Corean race and the difference between 
the same and the neighboring nations, shows itself mainly in the 
strict and rigid division of tlie castes which part the various ranks 
of the population of the peninsula from each other, showing some 
analogy to the caste institutions prevailing among the Hindus in 
India. There exists, however, this notable difference between 
the two, that while with the latter this separation is based upon 

(371) 



372 systp:m of caste. 

religious principles and customs, no religious movement appears 
as its cause in Corea, where its origin seems solely attributable to 
political reasons, which have been maintained and kept up to our 
times by the government for reasons of its own. The forms of 
Corean society to this day are derived from feudal ranks and di- 
visions. The fruit and legacy of feudalism are seen in the serf- 
dom or slavery which is Corea's peculiar domestic institution. 

Speaking in general terms, society has four grades, following 
the king. These are the nobles and the three classes which come 
after them, in the last of whicli are "the seven low callings." In 
detail the grades may be counted by the scores. In the lowest 
grade of the fourth class are " the seven vile callings," that is, the 
merchant, boatman, jailer, postal or mail slave, monk, butcher, 
and sorcerer. The first and foremost rank, immediately after the 
king and the members of the royal family, who stand absolutely 
above and beyond these castes, is taken up by the so-called nobles, 
descendants of the old families of chieftains, who are again sub- 
divided into two degrees, the civil and the military nobility. 
These two classes of nobles, in the course of time, had possessed 
themselves of the exclusive right of occupying public office. Fol- 
lowing upon these we find the caste of the half nobles, numeri- 
cally a very weak class, which forms the transition from the no- 
bility to the civic classes. These also enjoy the right to fill cer- 
tain offices from their ranks, principally those of government sec- 
retaries and translators of Chinese. After these come the civic 
caste, which consists of the better and wealthier portion of the 
city inhabitants. This class counts amongst its numbers the mer- 
chants, manufacturers, and most kinds of artisans. Next follows 
the people's caste, which comprising the bulk of the people is 
naturally the most numerous of all and includes all villagers, 
farmers, shepherds, huntsmen, fishermen, and the like. 

The nobles are usually the slave holders, many of them having 
in their households large numbers whom they have inherited 
along with their ancestral chattels. The master has a right to 
sell or otherwise dispose of the children of his slaves if he so 
choose. Slavery or serfdom in Corea is in a continuous state 
of decline, and the number of slaves constantly diminishing. 
The slaves are those who are born in a state of servitude, those 



SLAVERY OR SERFDOM. 373 

who sell themselves as slaves, and those who are sold to be such 
by their parents in times of famine or for debt. Infants exposed 
or abandoned that are picked up and educated become slaves, but 
their offspring are born free. The serfdom is really very mild. 
Only the active young men are held to field labor, the young 
vi^omen being kept as domestics. When old enough to marry, the 
males are let free by an annual payment of a sum of money for a 
term of years. Outside of private ownership of slaves, there is a 
species of government slavery which illustrates the persistency of 




STATESMAN ON MONOCYCLE. — Native Drawing. 

one feature of the ancient kingdom of Korai perpetuated through 
twenty centuries. It is the law that in case of the condemnation 
of a great criminal, the ban shall fall upon his wife and children, 
who at once become the slaves of the judge. These unfortunates 
do not have the privilege of honorably serving the magistrate, but 
usually pass their existence in waiting on the menials in the 
various government offices. Only a few of the government slaves 
are such by birth, most of them having become so through 
judicial condemnation in criminal cases ; but this latter class fare 



GUILDS AND LABOR UNIONS. 



far worse than the ordinary slaves. They are chiefly females, and 
are treated little better than beasts. Nothing can equal the con- 
tempt in which they are held. 

By union and organization it lias come to pass that the common 
people and the serfs themselves in Corea have won a certain 
degree of social freedom that is increasing. The spirit of asso- 
ciation is spread among 
the Coreans of all class- 
es, from the highest 
families to the meanest 
slaves. All those who 
have any kind of work 
or interest in common, 
, form guilds, corpora- 
tions or societies which 
have a common fund 
contributed to by all for 
aid in time of need. 
Very powerful trade 
unions exist among the 
mechanics and laborers, 
such as hat-weavers, 
coffin-makers, carpen- 
ters, and masons. These 
societies enable each 
class lo possess a mo- 
nopoly of trade which 
even a noble vainly tries 
to break. Sometimes 
they hold this right by 
coREAN BRUSH CUTTER. — Native Drawing, writ purchased or ob- 
tained from govern- 
ment, though usually it is by prescription. Most of the guilds 
are taxed by the government for their monopoly enjoyed. They 
have their chief or head man who possesses almost despotic 
power, even in some guilds of life and death. 

One of the most powerful and best organized guilds is that of 
the porters. The interior commerce of the country being almost 




GUILDS AND LABOR UNIONS. 



375 



entirely on the backs of men and pack horses, these people have 
the monopoly of it. They number about ten thousand, and are 
divided by provinces and districts under the orders of chiefs and 
inspectors. They have very severe rules for the government of 
their guild, and crimes among them are punished with death at 
the order of their chief. They are so powerful that they pretend 
that even the government dare not interfere with them. They 
are honest and faithful in their business, delivering packages with 




PORTERS WITH CHiS.iR. — Native Drawing. 

certainty to the most remote places in the kingdom. When they 
have received an insult, or injustice, or too low wages, they 
" strike " in a body and retire from the district. This puts a stop 
to all travel and business until the grievances are settled, or sub- 
mission to their own terms is made. Owing to the fact that the 
country at large is so lacking in the shops and stores common in 
other countries, and that instead fairs on set days are so numerous 
in the towns and villages, the guild of peddlers and hucksters is 



376 WOMAN'S SECLUSION. 

very large and influential. This class includes probably two 
hundred thousand able bodied persons who in the various provinces 
move freely among the people, and are thus useful to government 
as spies, detectives, messengers, and in time of need, soldiers. 

The Corean woman has little moral existence. She is an in- 
strument of pleasure or of labor, but never man's companion or 
equal. She has no name. In childhood she receives indeed a sur- 
name by which she is known in the family and by near friends, 
but as she grows up none but her father and mother employ this 
appellation ; to all others she is " the sister " of such a one or " the 
daughter " of so and so. After her marriage her name is buried, 
and she is absolutely nameless. Her own parents allude to her 
by employing the name of the district or ward in which she is 
married. When she bears children she is " the mother " of so and 
so. When a woman appears for trial before a magistrate, in order 
to save time and trouble she receives a special name for the time 
being. "^ 

In the higher classes of society etiquette requires that the 
children be separated after the age of eight or ten years. After 
that time the boys dwell entirely in the men's apartments to study 
and even to eat and drink; the girls remain secluded in the 
women's quarters. The boys are taught that it is a shameful 
thing even to set foot in the female part of the house. The girls 
are told that it is disgraceful even to be seen by males, so that 
gradually they seek to hide themselves when any of the male sex 
appear. These customs, continued from childhood to old age, 
result in destroying the family life. A Corean of good taste only 
occasionally holds conversation with his wife, whom he regards as 
being far beneath him. The men chat, smoke, and enjoy 
themselves in the outer rooms, and the women receive their 
parents and friends in the inner apartments. The men seek the 
society of their male neighbors, and the women on their part 
unite together for local gossip. In the higher classes, when a 
young woman has arrived to marriageable age none even of her 
own relatives except those nearest of kin, is allowed to see or 
speak to her. After their marriage women are inaccessible. They 
are nearly always confined to their apartments, nor can they even 
look out into the streets without permission from their lords. 



MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 377 

There is, however, another side. Though counting for nothing 
in society, and nearly so in their family, they are surrounded by 
a certain sort of exterior respect. They are always addressed in 
the formulas of the most polite language. The men always step 
aside in the street to allow a woman to pass, even though she be 
of the poorer classes. There is also a peculiar custom which 
exists in Seoul which exhibits deference to the comfort of the 
women. A bell in the castle is struck at sunset, after which male 
citizens are not allowed to go out of their houses even to visit 
their neighbors. Women, on the contrary are permitted the free- 
dom of the streets after this time, consequently, as they are as- 
sured of safety, from seeing men or being seen by them, they 
take their exercise and enjoy the outdoors most heartily and 
freely at night. 

Marriage in Corea is a thing with which a woman has little or 
nothing to do. The father of the young man communicates with 
the father of the girl he wishes his son to marry. This is often 
done without consulting the tastes or character of either, and 
usually through a middleman or go-between. The fathers settle 
the time of the wedding, and a favorable day is appointed by the 
astrologers. Under this aspect marriage seems an affair of small 
importance, but in reality it is marriage only that gives one any 
civil rank or influence in society. Every unmarried person is 
treated as a child. He may commit all sorts of foolishness with- 
out being held to account. His capers are not noticed, for he is 
not supposed to think or act seriously. Even the unmarried 
young men of twenty-five or thirty years of age can take no part 
in social reunions or speak on affairs of importance. But mar- 
riage is emancipation. Even if mated at twelve or thirteen years 
of age, the married are adults. The bride takes her place among 
the matrons and the young man has a right to speak among the 
men and to wear a hat. 

The badge of single or married life is the hair. Before mar- 
riage the young man who goes bareheaded, wears a simple tresa 
hanging down his back. In wedlock the hair is bound up on the 
top of the head and is cultivated on all parts of the scalp. Young 
persons who insist on remaining single, or bachelors who have not 
yet found a wife, sometimes, however, secretly cut oif their haii 



375 THE WEDDING DAY» 

or get it done by fraud in order to pass for married folks and 
avoid being treated as children. Such a custom however is a 
gross violation of morals and etiquette. 

On the evening before the wedding the young lady who is to be 
married invites one of her friends to change her virginal coiffure 
to that of a married woman. The bridegroom-to-be, also invites 
one of his acquaintances to do up his hair in manly style. On 
the marriage day in the house of the groom a platform is set up 
and richly adorned with decorative cloths. Parents, friends, and 
acquaintances assemble in a crowd. The couple to be married, 
who may never have seen or spoken to each other, are brought 
in and take their places on the platform face to face. There they 
remain for a few minutes. They salute each other with profound 
obeisance but utter not a word. This constitutes the ceremony 
of marriage. Each then retires upon either side ; the bride to 
the female, and the groom to the male apartments, where feast- 
ing and amusement after fashions in vogue in Chosen take place. 
The expense of a wedding is considerable and the bridegroom 
must be unstinting in his hospitality. Any failure in this particu- 
lar may subject him to unpleasant practical jokes. On her wed- 
ding day the young bride must preserve absolute silence both on 
the marriage platform and in the nuptial chamber. Etiquette re- 
quires this at least among the nobility. Though overwhelmed 
with questions and compliments, silence is her duty. She must 
rest mute and impassive as a statue. 

It is the reciprocal salutation before witnesses on the wedding 
dais that constitutes legitimate marriage. From that moment a 
husband may claim a woman as his wife. Conjugal fidelity, oblig- 
atory on the woman, is not required of the husband, and a wife 
is little more than a slave of superior rank. Among the nobles 
the young bridegroom spends three or four days with his bride, 
and then absents himself from her for a considerable time to prove 
that he does not esteem her too highly. To act otherwise would 
be considered in very bad taste and highly unfashionable. 

Habituated from infancy to such a yoke and regarding them- 
selves as of an inferior race, most women submit to their lot with 
exemplary resignation. Having no idea of progress or of an in- 
fraction of established usage they bear all things. They become 



DEATH AND BURIAL. 379 

devoted aud obedient wives, jealous of the reputation and well- 
being of their husbands. The woman who is legally espoused, 
whether widow or slave, enters into and shares the entire social 
estate of her husband. Even if she be not noble by birth she 
becomes so by marrying a noble. It is not proper for a widow to 
remarry. 

The fashion of mourning, the proper time and place to shed 
tears, and express grief, according to regulations, are rigidly pre- 
scribed in an official treatise, or " Guide to Mourners," published 
by the government. The corpse must be placed in a coffin of 
very thick wood, and preserved during many months in a special 
room prepared and ornamented for this purpose. It is proper to 
weep only in this death chamber, but this must be done three or 
four times daily. Before entering it the mourner must don a 
special suit of mourning clothes. At the new and full moon all 
the relatives are invited and expected to assist in the ceremonies. 
These practices continue more or less even after burial, and at in- 
tervals during several years. Often a noble will go out to weep 
at the tomb, passing days and nights in this position. Among the 
poor, who have not the means to provide a death chamber and 
expensive mourning, the coffin is kept outside their houses cov- 
ered with mats until the time for its burial. 

Though cremation is known in Corea, the most usual form of 
disposing of the dead is by burial. Children are wrapped up in 
the clothes and bedding in which they die and are thus buried. 
As all unmarried persons are reckoned as children their shroud 
and burial are the same. With the married the process is more 
costly, and more detailed and prolonged. The selection of a 
proper site for their tomb is a matter of profound solicitude, time, 
and money ; for the geomancers must be consulted with a fee. 
The tombs of the poor consist only of a grave and a low mound 
of earth. With the richer class monuments are of stone, some- 
times neat or even imposing, sometimes grotesque. 

Mourning is of many degress and lengths, and is betokened by 
dress, abstinence from food and business, visits to the tomb, offer- 
ings, tablets, and many visible indications detailed even to ab- 
surdity. Pure or nearly pure white is the mourning color, as a 
contrast to red, the color of rejoicing. When noblemen don the 



380 MOURNING CUSTOMS. 

peaked hat which covers the face as well as the head, they are as 
dead to the world, not to be spoken to, molested, or even arrested, 
if charged with crime. This Corean mourning hat proved the 
helmet of salvation to Christians and explains the safety of the 
French missionaries who lived so long in disguise under its shel- 
ter, unharmed in the country where the police were ever on their 
track. The Jesuits were not slow to see the wonderful protection 
promised for them, and availed themselves of it at once and 
always, both while entering the well-guarded frontier and while 
residing in the country. 

Corean architecture is in a very primitive condition. The 
castles, fortifications, temples, monasteries, and public buildings 
cannot approach the magnificence of those of Japan or China. 
The dwellings are tiled or thatched houses, almost invariably one 
story high. In the smaller towns these are not arranged in regu- 
lar streets but are scattered here and there. Even in the cities 
the streets are narrow and tortuous. In the rural parts the houses 
of the wealthy are surrounded by beautiful groves, with gardens 
circled by hedges or fences of rushes or split bamboo. The cities 
show a greater display of red-tiled roofs, as only the officials and 
nobles are allowed this honor. Shingles are not much used. The 
thatchings are rice or barley straw. A low wall of uncemented 
stone five or six feet high, surrounds the dwellings. The foun- 
dations are laid on stone set in the earth, and the floor of the 
humble is the ground itself. The people one grade above the 
poorest, cover the hard ground with sheets of oiled paper which 
serve as a carpet. For the better class a floor of wood is raised 
a foot or so above the earth. 

Bed clothes are of silk, wadded cotton, thick paper, and furs. 
Cushions or bags of rice-chaff form the pillows of the rich. The 
poor man uses a smooth log of wood or slightly raised portion of 
the floor to rest his head upon. In most families of the middle 
class, the "kang" forms the vaulted floor, bed, and stove. It is 
as if we should make a bedstead of bricks and put foot -stoves un- 
der it. The floor is bricked over or built of stone, over flues 
which run from the fireplace at one end of the house to the chim- 
ney at the other. The fire which does the cooking is thus used 
to warm those sitting or sleeping in the room beyond. 



COREAN HOMES. 



381 



Three rooms are the rule in an average house, and these are for 
cooking, eating, and sleeping. In the kitchen the most notable 
articles are the large earthen jars for holding rice, barley or water. 
Each of them is big enough to hold a man easily. The second 
room, containing the " kaiig," is the sleeping apartment, and the 
next is the best room or parlor. Little furniture is the rule. 
Coreans, like the Japanese, sit not cross-legged but on their heels. 




COREAN BOAT. — Native Drawing. 



Among the well-to-do. dog skins cover the floor for a carpet, or 
tiger skins serve as rugs. Matting is common. 

The meals are served on the floor on small low tables, usually 
one for each guest, but sometimes one for a couple. The best 
table service is of porcelain and the ordinary sort of earthenware 
yi\t\i white metal or copper utensils. The tablecloths are of fine 
glazed paper and resemble oiled silk. No knives or forks are 
used ; but instead chopsticks and what is more common than in 



382 MEALS, FOOD AND DRINK. 

China or Japan, spoons are used at every meal. The walls range 
in quality of decoration from plain mud to colored plaster and 
paper. Pictures are not known. The windows are square and 
latticed without or within, covered with tough oiled paper, and 
moving in grooves. The doors are of wood, paper, or plaited 
bamboo. Glass was till recently a nearly unknown luxury in 
Corea. 

The Corean liquor by preference is brewed or distilled from 
rice, millet, or barley. These alcoholic drinks are of various 
strength, color, and smell, ranging from beer to brandy. No trait 
of the Coreans has more impressed their numerous visitors than 
their love of all kinds of strong drink. No sooner were the 
ports of Corea opened to commerce than the Chinese established 
liquor stores, while European wines, brandies and whiskeys have 
entered to increase the national drunkenness. Although the 
Corean lives between the two great tea-producing countries of the 
world, he scarcely knows the taste of tea and the fragrant herb is 
little used on the peninsula. 

The staple diet has in it much more of meat and fat than that 
of the Japanese, and the average Corean can eat twice as much 
as the Japanese. Beef, pork, fowls, venison, fish, and game are 
consumed without much waste and rejected material. Dog flesh 
is on sale among the common butchers' meat. The women cook 
rice beautifully, and other well-known dishes are barley, millet, 
beans, potato, lily-bulbs, seaweeds, acorns, radishes, turnips, mac- 
aroni, vermicelli, apples, pears, plums, grapes, persimmons, and 
various kinds of berries. All kinds of condiments are much rel- 
ished. 

One striking fault of the Coreans at the table is their voracity. 
In this respect there is not the least difference between the I'ich 
and poor, noble or plebeian. To eat much is an honor, and the 
merit of a feast consists not in the quality but in the quantity of 
the food served. Little talking is done while eti'Ding, for each sen 
tence might lose a mouthful. Hence, since a capacious stomach 
is a high accomplishment, mothers use every means to develop as 
elastic a capacity as possible in their children from very infancy. 
The Coreans equal the Japanese in devouring raw fish, and un- 
cooked food of all kinds is swallowed without a wry face. Fish 



VORACITY OF THE COREANS. 



383 



bones do not scare them. These they eat as they do the small 
bones of fowls. 

Nationally and individually the Coreans are very deficient in 
conveniences for the toilet. Bath tubs are rare, and except in 
the warmer days of summer, when the river and sea serve for 
immersion, the natives are not usually found under water. The 
need of soap and hot water has been noticed by travelers and 
writers of every nation. The men are very proud of their beards, 
and honor them as 
a distinctive glory 
and mark of their 
sex. Women coil 
their glossy black 
tresses into mas- 
sive knots and 
fasten them with 
pins, or gold and 
silver rings. 

Corea is famous 
as the land of big 
hats. Some of 
these head-cover- 
ings are so im- 
mense that the 
human head en- 
cased in one of 
them seems as but 
a hub in a cart 
wheel. In shape 
the gentleman's corean egg-seller. — Native Drawing. 

hat resembles a flowerpot inverted in the center of a round 
table. Two feet is a common diameter, and the top, which rises 
in a cone nine inches higher, is only three inches wide at the apex. 
The usual material is bamboo, split to the fineness of a thread 
and woven. The fabric is then varnished or lacquered, and be- 
comes perfectly weatherproof. The prevalence of cotton cloth- 
ing, easily soaked and rendered uncomfortable, requires the ample 




384 COSTUME OF MEN AND WOMEN. 

protection for the back and shoulders which these umbrella-like 
hats furnish. 

The wardrobe of the upper classes consists of the ceremonial 
and the house dress. The former as a rule is of fine silk, and the 
latter of coarser silk or cotton. They are of pink, blue, and other 
rich colors. The official robe is a long garment like a wrapper, 
with loose baggy sleeves. There are few tailors' shops, the 
women of each household making the family outfit. The under- 
dress of both sexes is a short jacket with tight sleeves, which for 
men reaches to the thighs, and for women only to the waist, and 
a pair of drawers reaching from waist to ankle. The females 
wear a petticoat over this garment, so that the Coreans say they 
dress like western women, and foreign-made hosiery and under- 
garments are in demand. Their general style of costume is that 
of the wrapper, stiff, wide, and inflated, with abundant starch in 
summer, but clinging and baggy in winter. The white dress of 
the Corean makes his complexion look darker than it really is. 
Footgear is either of native or of Chinese make. The laborer 
contents himself with sandals woven from rice-straw, which 
usually last but a few days. Small feet do not seem to be con- 
sidered a beauty, and the foot binding of the Chinese is unknown 
in Cho-sen. 

Cjudging from a collection of the toys of Corean children, and 
from their many terms of affection, and words relating to games 
and sports, festivals and recreation, and nursery stories, the life 
of the little ones must be pleasant. In the capital and among the 
higher classes, children's toys are very handsome, ranking as real 
works of art. They have many games played by the little ones 
quite similar to those of our own babies, and they delight in pets, 
such as monkeys and puppies. 

At school the pupils study out loud and noisily, according 
to the method all over Asia. Besides learning the Chinese 
characters and the vernacular alphabet, the children master 
arithmetic and writing. The normal Corean is fond of his 
children, especially of sons, who in his eyes are worth ten times as 
much as daughters. Such a thing as exposure of children is little 
known. The first thing inculcated in a child's mind is respect for 
his father. All insubordination is immediately and sternly le 



CLANNISH SPIRIT. 385 

pressed. Far different is it with the mother. She yields to her 
boy's caprices, and laughs at his faults and vices without rebuke, 
while the child soon learns that a mother's authority is next to 
nothing. 

Primogeniture is the rigid rule. Younger sons at the time of 
their marriage, or at other important periods of life receive 
paternal gifts, but the bulk of the property belongs to the oldest 
son, on whom the younger sons look as their father. He is the 
head of the family, and regards his father's children as his own. 
In all eastern Asia the bonds of family are much closer than 
among Caucasian people of the present time. All the kindred, 
even to the fifteenth or twentieth degree, whatever their social 
position, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, officials or beggars, 
form a clan or more properly one single family, all of whose 
members have mutual interests to sustain. The house of one is 
the house of the other, and each will assist to his utmost, another 
of the clan to get money, office, or advantage. The law recognizes 
this system by levying on the clan the taxes and debts which in- 
dividuals of it cannot pay, holding the clan responsible for the in- 
dividual. To this they submit without complaint or protest. In- 
stead of the family being a unit, as with us, it is only the frag- 
ment of a clan, a segment in the great circle of kindred. The 
Coreans are fully as clannish as the Chinese, and in this lies 
one great obstacle to Christianity or to any kind of individual 
reform. 

China gave her culture to Corea and Corea passed it on to 
Japan. If we may believe Corean tales, then the Coreans have pos- 
sessed letters and writing during three thousand 3'ears. It is 
certain that since the opening of the Christian era the light of 
China's philosophy has shone steadily among Corean scholars. In 
spite of their national system of writing, the influence of the 
finished philosophy and culture of China has been so great that 
the hopelessness of producing a copy equal to the original became 
at once apparent to the Corean mind. The culture of their native 
tongue has been neglected by Corean scholars. The consequence 
is that after so many centuries of national life Corea possesses no 
literature worthy of the name. 

At present Corean literary men possess a highly critical 



386 EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. 

knowledge of Chinese. Most intelligent scholars read the 
classics with ease and fluency. Penmanship is an art as much 
prized and as widely practiced as in Japan, and reading and 
writing constitute education. Corea has most closely imitated her 
teacher, China, in the use of education. She fosters education by 
making scholastic ability as tested in the literary examination, the 
basis of appointment to office. This civil service reform was 
established by the now ruling dynasty early in the fifteenth 
century. The Corean child, neglecting his own language, liter- 
ature, and history, studies those of China and the philosophy of 
Confucius, so that his education is practically that of the young 
man in China. The same classics are studied and the same at- 
tention is paid to memory cultivation. The competitive exami- 
nations too are very similar to those of China, and corresponding 
degrees are granted. The system of literary examinations, which 
for two or three centuries after its establishment was vigorously 
maintained with impartiality, is at present in a state of decay, 
bribery and official favor being the causes of its decline. 

The special schools of languages, mathematics, medicine, art 
etc., are under the patronage of the government, but amount to 
very little. The school of astronomy and the choice of fortunate 
days for state occasions is for the special service of the king. 
There is also a school of interpreters, charts, law, and horology Tj 

Although the Chinese language, writing and literature form 
the basis of education and culture in Chosen, yet the native 
language is distinct in structure from the Chinese, having little in 
common with it. The latter is monosyllabic, while the Corean is 
polysyllabic, as is the Japanese which the Corean closely re- 
sembles. No other language is so nearly affiliated to the Japanese 
as is the Corean. The Corean alphabet, one of the most simple 
and perfect in the world, consists of twenty-five letters, eleven 
vowels and fourteen consonants. They are made with easy 
strokes in which straight lines, circles, and dots only are used. 

As in Japan, so in Corea three styles of languages prevail, and 
are used as follows : Pure Chinese without any admixture of 
Corean, in books and writings on science, history aud govern- 
ment, and in the theses of the students and literary men ; in the 
books composed in the Corean language the vernacular syntax 



LANGUAGE. 



387 



serves as the framework, but the vocabulary is largely Chinese ; 
the Corean book style of composition which is written in the pure 
Corean language. Every one in Corea speaks the vernacular and 
not Chinese. 

The books which have been written in Corean, are chiefly primers 
or manuals of history, books on etiquette and ritual, and geog- 
raphy. There are also a few works of poetry written in the 
vulgar dialect. 



<sa=> 




COREAN BAND OF MUSICIANS. — Native Drawing 



In passionate fondness for music the Coreans decidedly surpass 
all other Asiatic nations. Their knowledge is indeed primitive, 
however, not superior to that of their neighbors, and their instru- 
ments are of rude workmanship and construction. The principal 
of these instruments are the gong, the flute, and the two-stringed 
guitar, combining to make a music anything but harmonious. 
They always sing in falsetto, like the Chinese, in a monotonous 
and melancholy manner. The Coreans however possess a musical 



388 RELIGION. 

ear, and they know how to appreciate and like to listen to foreign 
music very much, while the Chinese have not the slighest idea of 
harmony, and placing our music far below their own, look down 
upon our art with something like a feeling of pity. 

The fibres of Corean superstition, and the actual religion of the 
people of to-day, have not radically changed during twenty 
centuries in spite of Buddhism. The worship of the spirits of 
nature and the other popular gods is still reflected in superstition 
and practice. The Chinese Fung Shuy, which in Corean be- 
comes Pung-siu, is a system of superstition concerning the direc- 
tion of the everyday things of life, which is nearly as powerful in 
Corea as in the parent country. Upon this system, and perhaps 
nearly equal in age with it, is the cult of ancestral worship which 
has existed in Chinese Asia from unrecorded time. Confucius 
found it in his day and made it the basis of his teachings, as it 
had already been of the religious and ancient documents of which 
he was the editor. The Corean system of ancestral worship pre- 
sents no feature radically different from the Chinese. Confuci- 
anism, or the Chinese system of ethics, holds about the same 
position that it does in China. Taoism seems to be little studied. 

In Corean mouths Buddha becomes Pul and his " way " or 
doctrine Pul-to or Pul-chie. The faith from India has made 
thorough conquest of the southern half of the peninsula, but has 
only partially leavened the northern portion where the grosser 
heathenism prevails. The palmy days of Corean Buddhism were 
during the era of Korai, 905 to 1392 A. D. In its development, 
Corean Buddhism has frequently been a potent influence in 
national affairs, and the power of the bonzes has at times been so 
great as to practically control the court and nullify decrees of the 
king. As in Japan the frequent wars have developed the forma- 
tion of a clerical militia, able to garrison and defend their fortified 
monasteries, and even to change the fortune of war by the valor 
of their exploits. There are three distinct classes or grades of the 
bonzes or priests. The student monks devote themselves to learn- 
ing and to the composition of books and to Buddhist rituals. 
Then tliere are the mendicant and traveling bonzes who solicit 
alms and contributions for the erection and maintenance of 
t\ie temples and monastic establishments. Finally the military 



BUDDHISM. 389 

bonzes act as garrisons, and make, keep in order, and are trained 
to use weapons. Even at the present day Buddhist priests are 
made high officers of the government, governors of provinces, and 
military advisers. In the nunneries are two kinds of female de- 
votees, those who shave the head and those who keep their locks. 
The vows of the latter are less rigid. Excepting in its military 
phases, the type of Corean Buddhism approaches that of China 
rather than of Japan. 

The great virtue of the Coreans is their innate respect for and 
daily practice of the laws of human brotherhood. Mutual assist- 
ance and generous hospitality among themselves are distinctive 
national traits. In all the important events of life, such as mar- 
riages and funerals, each person makes it his duty to aid the 
family most directly interested. One will charge himself with the 
d?i;ty of making purchases; others with arranging the ceremonies. 
The poor, who can give nothing, carry messages to friends and 
relatives in the near or remote villages, passing day and night on 
foot and giving their labors gratuitously. When fire, flood or other 
accident destroys the house of one of their number, neighbors 
make it a duty to lend a hand to rebuild. One brings stone, an- 
other wood, another straw. Each in addition to his gifts in mate- 
rial devotes two or three days' work gratuitously. A stranger 
coming into a village is always assisted to build a dwelling. Hos- 
pitality is considered as one of the most sacred duties. It would 
be a grave and shameful thing to refuse a portion of one's meal 
to any person, known or unknown, who presents himself at eating 
time. Even the poor laborers at the side of the roads are often 
seen sharing their frugal nourishment with the passer-by. The 
poor man making a journey does not need elaborate preparations. 
At night, instead of going to a hotel, he enters some house whose 
exterior room is open to any comer. There he is sure to find 
food and lodging for the night. Rice will be shared with the 
stranger, and at bedtime a corner of the floor mat will serve for a 
bed, while he may rest his head on the long log of wood against 
the wall, which serves as a pillow. Even should he delay his 
journey for a day or two, little or nothing to his discredit will be 
harbored by his hosts. 

It is evident after this glance at the history, the conditions, and 



390 GENEROSITY AND HOSPITALITY. 

the customs of the Coreans, that they have many excellent quali- 
ties, which require but the leavening influence of Christianity 
and western civilization to make them worthy members of the 
family of nations. It is quite possible that the influence of the 
Japanese-Chinese war, iu its ultimate results, may reach this de- 
sirable consummation. 




JAPANESE COOLIES FOLLOWING THE ARMT. 



The War 



THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 



In its broadest sense no war between nations can be ascribed to 
a single cause, defined by exact limits of time and place. A cause 
of war always suggests the question as to what has made it such ; 
and so we find that for an intelligent understanding of the re- 
cent war we have to go back, beyond the Corean rebellions of the 
early spring of 1894, and take in the whole range of the relations 
of China and Japan to Corea and to each other. 

The first formal recognition of Corean independence is found 
in the earliest treaty between Japan and Corea, that of 1876, by 
which the Coreans agreed to pay indemnity for an unwarranted 
attack which had been made upon a Japanese vessel, and to open 
several ports to Japanese traders. It was through this treaty that 
Corea was first introduced to the comity of nations. One of the 
professed objects of Japan during the war, was, therefore, to es- 
tablish the independence of Corea, which she rec<ignized in her 
treaties, against the Chinese claim of suzerainty. Sooner or later 
a war between Japan and China was inevitable. The hereditary 
animosities between the two nations were aggravated by the 
marked differences which arose of late years between their civil- 
izations ; by the impatience under which Japan struggled against 
an anomalous position among the powers, forced upon her by for- 
eign treaties, while she beheld her mediaeval rival holding piece- 
dence and predominence ; and by the jealousy and fanatic con- 
tempt with which the subjects of the " Son of Heaven " watched 
the growing political aspirations of Japan, her conciliatory atti- 
tude towards foreigners, and her apostate abandonment of the 
manners and customs of oriental life. 

For years, moreover, an excuse for a collision was developing 
in the relations of the two states to Corea. In spite of the liberal 
sympathies of the Corean king himself, the ascendant force in the 
government was long the Ming faction, to which family the queen 
belonged, which was pro-Chinese in its sympathies, foe to every- 

(393) 



394 THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 

thing savoring of western liberal progress. Under the sway of this 
faction, which monopolized the highest magistracies, government in 
Corea was nothing more nor less than systematic plunder of the 
masses, for the benefit of a few privileged nobles. The admitted 
misgovernment of the country, which always jeopardized the 
lives and property of aliens ; the suzerain claims of China ; the 
vast commercial interests of Japan in the peninsula and her large 
colonies; and finally the complicated treaty arrangements which 
grew up between Tokio and Peking with regard to the " Hermit 
Kingdom " — these long constituted a source of friction, in the 
knowledge of which the late conflict between the mandarins and 
daimios is more readily understood. It is significant that while 
China never formally gave up her claim to lordship over Corea, 
she refused to stand by her vassal on certain occasions, and en- 
couraged the latter to conduct negotiations on her own account. 
This was indeed the action of China in 1876, when the treaty 
with Japan was made, and the latter seized the opportunity to 
recognize the king of Corea as an independent sovereign prince. 
The immediate cause of the war centered around the disputed 
question of the right of both parties to keep troops on Corean 
soil, a right which both have exercised more than once. 

Corea for ages has been the pupil of China, whence nearly 
everything that makes up civilization has been borrowed. Of pa- 
triotism in its highest sense, of pure love of country, of willing- 
ness to make sacrifices for native land, there have been little in the 
kingdom. Such things are new thoughts nourished by a few far- 
seeing patriots. But leavening the multitude of Confucian fanat- 
ics and time-servers of the men in power at Peking, there are also 
men who have drunk at other fountains of thought, entered new 
worlds of knowledge, and seen the light of modern science, of 
Christianity, and of western civilization in other lands. The 
numbers of enlightened men are increasing who believe in na- 
tional j)rogress, though to their demands there has ever been the 
defiance of vigilant conservation. Even within the two broadly 
defined parties, there are factional and family differences. Against 
the craft of the Ming clan the other noble families, Ni, So, Kim, 
Hong, and others, have been able to make headway only by adroit 
combination. 



THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 395 

Japan has an ancient claim to the suzerainty of Corea. So too 
has China. The Japanese in the Kingdom, are, however, far more 
numerous than all other foreigners. Dynastic troubles have 
tended in spite of this fact, to strengthen the Chinese tradition 
and the Chinese influence with the Corean rulers. 

Japanese and Chinese united by treaty in 1876 to recognize the 
independence of the Corean kingdom. Nevertheless, when the 
province of Chulla rebelled in 1894, the Corean government in- 
voked the aid of China. Japan protested at once, and sent 5,000 
soldiers into the distracted country : she demanded also immedi- 
ate reforms, a declaration of independence, and the withdrawal 
of the Chinese. 

Corea refused her demands, whereupon Japan declared war 
against China. < 

On July 23, 1894, the Corean palace guards fired upon the es- 
cort of the Japanese minister, at Seoul. The fire was promptly 
returned by the Japanese, and a sharp skirmish ensued which 
lasted twenty minutes. One Japanese cavalryman and two foot- 
soldiers were wounded ; while the Corean loss was seventeen 
killed and seventy wounded. When quiet was restored, the Jap- 
anese were in possession of the palace. The result of the fight 
was momentous — the complete overthrow of the Ming, or pro- 
Chinese faction in the Corean government. 

On the same day the Corean king formally announced his in- 
dependence of China. 

The first important collision at sea occurred in Prince Jerome 
gulf, about forty miles off Chemulpo, on July 25, one week be- 
fore the formal declaration of war. 

The Kow-shing, a British steamer chartered by the Chinese war 
office, was sunk by the Japanese manof-war Naniwa Kan. This 
affair caused a complete change in the attitude of the Chinese 
government and in the foreign mind, and Japan was denounced for 
having sent a British sliip to the bottom, even though it were loaded 
with Chinese soldiers, inasmuch as war had not been declared. 
A consular court of inquiry however, justified the Japanese com- 
mander on the ground that the Kow-shing was violating neutrality. 

Immediately following the date of these sea battles, hard fight- 
ing began at and around Asan, where the body of Chinese troops 



396 THE WAR BETWEEN J A TAX AND CHINA. 

was intrenched. Early on the morning of July 29 the Chinese 
troops, who had left their fortifications at Asan, were attacked by 
General Oshima, the commander of Japanese armies in Corea, at 
Seikwan. The Japanese gained a decisive victory. After a hard 
fought battle in which one hundred Chinese were killed and five 
liundred wounded, out of twenty-eight hundred troops engaged, 
while the Japanese lost less than one hundred, the Chinese were 
forced back towards Asan, their entrenchment at Chan Hon having 
been captured. During the night the Chinese evacuated Asan, 
abandoning large quantities of ammunition and some guns, and 
fled in the direction of Koshu. When the Japanese reached 
Asan early in the morning of the 30th they found the trenches 
deserted. Many flags, four cannon, and a quantity of other 
munitions of war were captured, and the victorious troops took 
possession of the enemy's headquarters. 

The first serious engagement between the Chinese and the Jap- 
anese forces in Corea resulted, as competent judges foresaw all 
along, in the complete victory of the latter. The great battle was 
fought and won. The Chinese were utterly routed. The strong 
position of Ping- Yang lying just north of the Tatong river, on 
the road from Seoul to the frontier at the mouth of the Yalu 
river, was carried by assault in the small hours of Sunday morn- 
ing, September 16. The Chinese troops who held it were utterly 
defeated, with a loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, estimated 
at nearly four-fifths of their entire force. The Chinese commander 
was killed. 

Tha infantry and artillery of the Japanese were in a high state 
of efficiency. The men themselves were hardy, active, brave and 
intelligent. Their drill and discipline had been carefully adapted 
from the best European models. Their arms were of the latest 
and most destructive patterns that science has been able to de- 
vise, and every detail in their equipment and accoutrements had 
been thoroughly thought out and carefully provided. The officers 
who had the skill and the energy to create such a force were of 
course worthy to lead it. All of them had made scientific study 
of their profession, and some of them had spent years in close in- 
vestigation of the more famous European military systems, under 
the guidance of distinguished strategists. 



THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 397 

The second day after the flight from Ping- Yang, September 17, 
the naval battle off the Yalu river was fought. The collision of 
the fleets seems to have been somewhat unpremeditated. The 
Chinese were engaged in disembarking troops for the reenforce- 
ment of the army at Ping- Yang, and it is a characteristically hap- 
hazard proceeding that they should have been landing troops one 
hundred and twenty miles from the front, to strengthen a position 
already abandoned. The battle which ensued, and which raged 
for five hours, allowed each contestant to lay claim to certain 
phases of the victory. But the opinion of independent and im- 
partial authorities, naval and military, has been that in the indi- 
rect results as well as the immediate lesson, Japan was well justi- 
fied in claiming the contest to be hers. 

The effects of the battles of Ping- Yang and the Yalu river 
upon the governments and peoples of the two belligerent nations 
were characteristic. Japan was the scene of rejoicings most 
hearty in every city and village of the empire. Congratulations 
were sent from the emperor to the commanders of the military 
and naval forces, and memorials complimentary to them were 
voted by the Japanese parliament. Additional levies of troops 
were made and hurried into Corea, with the intention that the 
war should be prosecuted with renewed vigor. 

In China, on the other hand, the dazed government was scarcely 
able to realize what had happened. Reports were made to the 
emperor which caused him to declare that the defeat was merely 
the result of the cowardice of his commanders, and that they 
must be punished for the losses. The emperor at once began to 
contemplate a change of counsellors, and the dismissal of all man- 
darins and others who had been concerned in the conduct of the 
war. Li Hung Chang's position in imperial favor began to waver. 
The captain of the cruiser Kwang Kai was beheaded for coward- 
ice. At the battle of the Yalu river he saw one of the enemy's 
ships approaching to attack him, and immediately turned and fled 
with his vessel as rapidly as possible. He intended to escape to 
Port Arthur, but as he was endeavoring to shape a course thither 
which would keep him out of range of the enemy's guns, he ran 
the vessel ashore and she became a total wreck. 

On the morning of September 18, an imperial edict was issued 



398 THE WAll BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 

depriving Li Hung Chang of his three-eyed peacock feather, the 
reason assigned for the disgrace being incapacity and negligence 
in making preparations for the war. Much sympathy was ex- 
pressed for the viceroy, wlio was thus made the scapegoat for the 
disasters. The real responsibility rested with the Tsung-li Yamen, 
which had been making war with an inadequate force inefficiently 
oi'ganized and hampered by tradition. Li was not a member of 
the Grand Council, but it was sought to make him responsible for 
its blunders. 

The Chinese offered but a slight lesistance in the minor en- 
gagements that followed, and finally succeeded in getting across 
the Yalu. 

The Japanese army, while pushing forward towards Manchuria, 
showed the greatest consideration in their dealings with the Co- 
reans, and any attempt at robbery or outrage on the part of the 
soldiery was most severely punished. The private soldiers were 
under the strictest orders to pay cash for everything that they ob- 
tained from the natives, and pains were taken to see that they 
should carry out their instructions. The result was that the Co- 
reans began to appreciate that the Japanese were better friends 
to them than were the Chinese. The latter had been very severe 
in their exactions of supplies from the populace, and even though 
the Corean sympathies had been with the Chinese, the common 
people objected to the expense of quartering the army without 
recompense. 

On October 24 Count Yamagata, commander-in-chief of the 
Japanese forces in Corea, threw a small force across the Yalu, 
thus invading Chinese territory. 

By the first of November, the first Japanese army was safely 
installed on the north bank of the Yalu river in Manchurian 
territory, threatening the road to Mukden, Niuchwang and the 
intervening cities. The second army was safe on shore on the 
Kwang Tung peninsula, threatening China's proudest naval sta- 
tion. The capture of Kinchow, at the narrowest point in the 
Adams Isthmus, was made without difficulty, and the victorious 
forces continued on their way. November 7 the Japanese occu- 
pied Talien-wan. The more the captured Chinese position here 
was examined, the greater became the astonishment at the poor 



THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. -399 

defense made. The defensive works were excellent in design. 
Six large and strongly constructed forts commanded Talien-wan 
bay, mounting all together eighty guns of various sizes and pat- 
terns. Many of them were comparatively modern and excellent 
of their kind. All of these guns, as well as large stores of am- 
munition, fell into the hands of the Japanese, and the Chinese, 
panic stricken, fled towards Port Arthur. 

The Japanese army broke camp at Dojoshu village before Port 
Arthur at 1:00 A. M. on November 21, and marching by circuit- 
ous and very difficult routes over the outlying hills, sometimes 
quite close to the sea at Pigeon Bay, got into line of battle before 
daylight. The moon was in the last quarter, and gave very little 
light ; the sky was quite clear, and the weather dry and cool. 

The first shot was fired within two or three minutes of seven 
o'clock, from a battery of thirty guns, just as the day was becom- 
ing light enough for gun practice. Then for an hour the Japa- 
nese guns blazed into the Table-Top forts, which with their guns 
of all sizes kept up a spirited reply. 

It was surprising how the Chinese stood to their guns ; they 
worked like heroes and aimed their guns well. But what could 
a fort or a half-dozen of forts do, against fifty guns hidden in the 
mountains, moving to get better positions when possible, and fir- 
ing systematically and simultaneously at one point. 

A furious fusillade was maintained by both sides for nearly two 
hours ; but the Chinese shots got wilder and wilder as the Japa- 
nese improved, until finally the Shoju magazine blew up and set 
fire to the sheds inside of the forts. Then shortly after eleven 
o'clock, Hasegawa charged all along the line, and took all the 
eight forts one by one. 

During the evening Hasegawa's brigade went over the hills, 
and occupied the two eastern shore forts called the " Mule's 
Jaws." The following morning Yamaji's first regiment marched 
around the lagoon and occupied the peninsula forts, which had 
been deserted during the night. Where the Chinese all vanished 
to, appeared ratlier a mystery to the victors. It was found that 
most of them got away along the beach past Hasegawa, and the 
rest westward in small parties under cover of darkness. In such 
a wide stretch of hilly country, it was easy for them to conceal 



400 THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA. 

themselves if they once escaped the vicinity of their foes. Port 
Arthur was in full possession of Marshal Oyama, with the lieet 
under Admiral Ito safe in the harbor. 

While the war was virtually ended by the capture of Port Ar- 
thur, Wei-Hal- Wei was yet to be bombarded and surrendered, 
and minor engagements took place between the armies. Peace 
negotiations were also under way, and after the complete rout of 
the armies and navies of China, Li Hung Chang, the Chinese 
viceroy, now restored to honor, proceeded to Japan to negotiate 
a peace. 

His life was attempted by a Japanese fanatic, whereupon the 
Japanese Emperor commanded an armistice. 

This was followed by the treaty of Shimonoseki, which was 
agreed to in April, 1895. By its terms, China surrendered all 
claim to Corea, and ceded to Japan part of Manchuria. She 
agreed further, to pay a war indemnity of 200,000,000 taels. She 
consented, finally, to extend greatly the commercial privileges of 
foreigners, to permit the introduction of machinery, and the es- 
tablishment of warehouses in the interior of the empire. But, at 
this juncture, Russia intervened, objecting strenuously to the ces- 
sion of Manchuria. The Japanese, rather than enter upon a des- 
perate struggle with so great a power, yielded to this "friendly 
demand," and the modified treaty was ratified early in the month 
of May. This was followed at once, by a commercial treaty be- 
tween China and Russia. Subsequently, the Chinese Viceroy, Li 
Hung Chang, visited the capitals of Russia, Germany, England, 
France, and the United States. His tour was partly to obtain 
tlie money for the Japanese indemnity, and partly to study the 
methods of the western governments. 



tf.W 



